Project: Crusade
by HobTheRobot
Summary: One Year can change a lot; people, places, ideas. Alex Mercer has changed, and the world has no choice but to change as well. Codename: Messiah, James Heller, The Second Outbreak; as they say, no plan is perfect, but if there's one thing Alex can do well, it's adapt. Nothing can stop the passage of time or the process of evolution, whether humans like it or not, things must change.
1. Chapter 1

Okay then here we go. First off I own nothing except for a few Original Characters, anything else that was not in or hinted at in either Prototype game is based off other games or movies.

Editing done by He Who Sees, trust me if he hadn't helped this wouldn't make any sense.

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If anyone has any questions I will at least try to answer them in notes at the beginning or ending of each chapter. Also a quick note here that will be appearing more then once over the course of the story.

Note: Threat Levels. New entries will be added as the story progresses. If anyone thinks I misplaced something by it's Threat Level feel free and welcome to say so and offer reasons and where you think it should go. Threat Level is based on multiple factors such as speed, strength, durability, destructive potential, etc. Example: The Threat Level of Walkers is 1 because they are slow, weak, fragile, and are not a credible threat to anything above Threat Level 2 and only a minimal threat to humans who know how to defend themselves. The Goliath is Level 5 because despite it's limited speed it is extremely durable and highly destructive while the Evolved fall into this category as a result of their mobility and versatility as opposed to sheer destructive force.

**Level 1**: Walker/s. **Level 2**: Armed Humans. **Level 3**: Brawlers, APCs, Orion Super Soldiers, Single Gunships. **Level 4**: Tanks, Juggernauts, Strike Teams, Hydras. **Level 5**: Evolved, Goliaths.

Note: Alex Mercer, Codename: ZUES. Possibly responsible for the Second Outbreak. Threat Level: ?

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**Chapter 1: Infected**

**New York / Manhattan Island / The Red Zone / Marine Patrol Route: Three-Four.**

James Heller sat staring into space, the conversation between his squad mates filtering through the scattered thoughts and emotions that had plagued him since he was told of his wife and daughter's deaths. He didn't care what the other Marines were saying. It didn't concern him what they thought of Blackwatch or the Infected. The only thing that concerned him at that moment was whether or not he would find the end he'd been searching for since coming to the Red Zone. The next thing James knew, he and his squad were tumbling about inside the APC as the vehicle itself was hurled through the air by an impact they hadn't had a chance of avoiding. The next thing he was aware of was the hard concrete against his face.

Climbing to his feet, James radioed "Red Crown", Blackwatch's command center,that many Marines half jokingly said was run by a robot. Before he could report his squad's status, a crash followed by a deafening roar drew his attention to an area obscured by smoke and rubble. Through the smoke came Alex Mercer, landing heavily on the street and scattering debris around the wreckage of the APC and other vehicles.

"Alex Mercer..." James trailed off, ignoring the response his words prompted from the man who had responded to his call.

**"Alex Mer-!? Oh Shit! Red Crown, we've got Alex Mercer in RZ Grid three-four! Repeat Alex Mercer is in RZ Grid three-four! We are awaiting your command!"**

**"Ninja Three-Three, this is Red Crown. We are sending reinforcements to your location. Do not pursue Mercer. Repeat. Do not pursue Mercer."**

Heller shut off the radio, having no intention of obeying the orders. While this had been occurring, Mercer had been examining the bodies of the now deceased squad as if he were looking for something. The moment James drew his knife, intending to sneak up on the psychopath and slit his throat, Mercer turned as if he had heard the small sound.

James froze for a second when Mercer's cold blue eyes turned on him, but just as quickly shook off his uncertainty and rushed forward. Changing his grip on the knife halfway between where he had stood and where Mercer still stood unmoving with a curious expression on his normally stoic face, James leaped forward to cover the last few feet and plunged his knife into the Mercers chest at an angle aimed for his heart; assuming of course, that he had one.

As the brief rush that had come when he thought he had killed the murderer of his family subsided, James stared in confusion at the unchanged expression on the man's face. Mercer raised an eyebrow before speaking. "Good to see you Sergeant Heller. I was starting to worry someone else may have gotten to you first or that you had managed to die out here..." He paused as he glanced around, ignoring the knife in his chest. "…unfortunate that the rest of your squad seems to have died."

Just as he recovered from his shock, James was hurled backwards, losing his grip on the knife and landing painfully on the cracked street. He looked up just in time to see its handle sink into Mercer's chest and disappear.

"If you'd meet me upstairs, we have a few things to discuss."

With that, Mercer turned and shot into the air, landing on the roof of a nearby building and vanishing.

"Bastard!" James muttered under his breath before glancing around to find a weapon. After retrieving an assault rifle and a few grenades from the wreckage and corpses of his dead squad, Heller kicked open the nearest door and entered the building.

A straight hallway with a few scattered bits of debris was all James could see from the door until one of the zombie-like infected shambled out of a room near the other end of the building. The moment the thing noticed him, it rushed towards him, growling and grunting as it did so.

Three rapid shots rang out and the infected fell to the ground and another shot to it's head made sure it would stay there. James continued through the building as calmly as he could as the infected weren't his target; they were just an obstacle. No reason to bother wasting his anger, or his bullets, on them.

Though he doubted it would be functioning, James checked the elevator first just in case and wasn't surprised to find it wrecked.

"Mercer...go ahead. Hide. Break the elevator. I'm still coming for you." James muttered as he turned and headed for the nearest flight of stairs. Had he been thinking straight, it would have been obvious that Mercer wasn't afraid of him and had no need to place any obstacles in his path. But of course, one shouldn't expect a man like James Heller to be rational given the situation at the time.

While the first floor of the building had miraculously only been occupied by a single infected, the stairway and successive floors were far more populated. When possible, James simply knocked infected out of some nearby windows and down the stairs, knocking them through holes in the floor a few times.

It was simple enough to deal with the mindless creatures when they were only in front of him, but upon reaching the third floor, or rather, being halfway between the second and third floors, James found himself being attacked from both directions.

Kicking those who were stumbling up the stairs and flipping those above him to hurl them down on their fellow infected, James progressed to the third floor. To his great irritation though, he quickly discovered that the stairs above had collapsed, blocking his path to the fourth floor and leaving him surrounded on the third floor landing.

Bull rushing his way through the infected, James rolled into the hallway of the third floor and rose to his feet, dropping a pin to the ground and tossing one of two grenades back onto the crowded landing before ducking into an alcove.

James dashed for the opposite stairwell as soon as the grenade had detonated only to find his path again barred by shambling corpses. Three round bursts of fire put one after another on the floor as the man, who could have passed for a mental patient escapee from a Veteran's hospital, made his way forward.

An infected leaped onto James' back just as he reached the landing and found that he could indeed proceed from there to the fourth floor. Heller jerked to his left and elbowed the hitchhiker in the side, causing it to stumble and lose it's grip on him before he repeated the motion in reverse by slamming his right elbow into the zombie and following through the spin until he was able to bring his rifle up and put the last two rounds from the clip into the zombie's face.

After fighting his way up the next two floors and reaching the sixth, James found that the staircases on both sides of the building were impassable and the floor itself was densely crowded by the disfigured bodies of infected. It didn't take him long to make the decision to use the fire escape.

Thwarted once again when he found that the metal emergency stairs were only stable enough to take him to the seventh floor, he re-entered the building, cleared the room he found himself in, ejected the now empty clip from the assault rifle, and reloaded; very much aware that he only had one more clip after the one he just put in.

James heard a roar and felt the building shake as he cautiously made his way toward the stairs which he hoped would finally lead him to the roof to confront Mercer. The source of the roar made itself known seconds later as a large brutish creature crashed through a closed door between him and the stairs.

The monster turned glowing yellow eyes on the human and roared once again before charging, clawed fingers leaving deep gashes in the floor. The animal, which he couldn't help but see as a freakish cross between a dog and a gorilla, bared its teeth as it sped towards James.

Heller managed to put nine bullets into the creatures head, which only seemed to anger it further, before diving out of it's path into a room to his left. The Brawler crashed into a wall as it attempted to change direction before stopping completely and smashing it's way into the room Heller had escaped into moments earlier.

James hadn't opted to remain, however, and was hiding around a corner in the next room connected to the one the Brawler had just unceremoniously entered. The monstrous beast growled and sniffed loudly before roaring and leaping forward. The jump carried it through the wall and into the room,only a foot to the right of and slightly above the head of the waiting man, who shouted a single word as he dived away.

Heller was crouched and faced the Brawler as it turned to face him. Six more bullets punched into the beast's head, eliciting an enraged roar, but seemingly not harming it at all. Realizing that his weapon was doing little more than this, James decided to expend his last grenade on the beast; a grenade which unintentionally found it's way into the Brawler's roaring mouth.

"SHIT!" James rolled behind an overturned sofa just as the Brawler's teeth and most of it's skull were blown clear across the room. The teeth embedding themselves in the walls, some clearly having passed through the space previously occupied by Heller.

James was overjoyed to find that the last three floors were almost devoid of infected, simply clubbing to death those that were present with a metal bat he'd found lying under some debris after his encounter with the Brawler. James dropped the bat on the landing just before going out to face Mercer again, remembering how little the knife had troubled the man and doubting the meager (relatively speaking) blunt force of a baseball bat would do him any good.

James smashed the door off it's already damaged hinges and stepped out onto the roof. There stood Alex Mercer at the edge of the building, holding another of the creatures Heller had just killed in the air by it's throat. The freakish animal was quite clearly dead; a fact reinforced when Mercer casually tossed the corpse off the roof to crash thunderously to the pavement below.

"Glad you could join me James. Sorry about the other Brawler by the way, though I have to admit, you seem to have handled it well." Mercer said with a wry grin.

Heller's rather inappropriate response was to snarl and raise his gun before emptying his current clip into Mercer's chest before reloading the weapon with his last and promptly repeating the action. He was enraged to see the man remain standing and simply quirk an eyebrow at him.

Alex held out his right hand, fingers open and palm facing the ground, and a steady stream of metal shards fell to the rooftop and scattered around his feet while the holes in his torso melted away. "That won't work James."

"Bastard! Just die!" Heller shouted. The soldier shifted his grip on the gun so that he was holding the barrel and charged toward the terrorist.

Before the gun could be used as a club, Mercer's left arm lashed out and snatched the weapon from James. "It was amusing the first time Heller, but now you're starting to annoy me." Alex said as he twisted the gun in half before tossing both pieces away.

An indecipherable growl escaped from Heller as he threw a punch at the man responsible for his family's deaths. The first punch sailed through empty air as Alex leaned to his right. The second punch likewise met no resistance as Mercer again shifted his position causing James to stumble. This continued through a series of increasingly wild and reckless attacks by the Sergeant until Mercer decided he was tired of being nice to the human.

A sickening crack briefly lead James to believe he had accomplished at least something against the monster he was fighting. That line of thought cut off abruptly when a spike of pain alerted him to the fact that his hand was broken.

Alex sighed impatiently while the fool who had broke his hand on his face screamed. He wasn't sure if it was impressive or depressing that the screams seemed more out of anger than as a reaction to the pain of shattered bones. Mercer allowed a low growl to escape him when he heard the distinct sound of an approaching strike team.

"You should have just let me explain; now we have to do this the hard way." Alex growled out as he quickly moved behind the injured man, placing his right hand at the base of his skull. "Sorry in advance if this kills you. I haven't had the chance to test it on a human yet."

The next few seconds for James Heller consisted first of a strange numb feeling spreading through his body, starting at the base of his skull, followed by an unpleasant tingling sensation, like his skin and muscles were moving on their own. A scant few seconds after he had almost lost all feeling, James was viciously reintroduced to pain, his broken hand forgotten in the shadow of the agony he was now feeling. It was as if he had been set alight and someone was trying to rip him apart from every possible direction at once while his own body made an incredible effort of its own to implode on the spot.

For what seemed to have been hours to James, the pain continued before he suddenly felt nothing. It was instantaneous; the pain was there and then it wasn't. He could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance accompanied by roars and screams of terror followed by a deafening silence. He knew Mercer was there and that he was at that monster's mercy and then he knew nothing. There was only oblivion that followed.

Alex stepped back and let the man fall to the ground. "He's alive. Good. Hopefully he'll stay that way for a few days. If he survives the early mutations everything should be fine." As the Strike Team came into view, Mercer paused, a small doubt troubling him. "No, this is the best way. To many risks with any other course of action. We can't risk Firebreak again."

**"Red Crown, this is Tornado One! We have visual on Mercer in RZ Grid three-four. Looks like Ninja Three-Three is terminated. Transport is scrapped and we see no surviv-hold on... We've got a Marine moving down-HOLY SHIT!"**

Alex had chosen to leave as soon as Heller began moving again. The panicked shouts and cursing of Strike Team pilots almost convinced him to smirk as he sailed straight through their formation before changing direction and vanishing from their sight around another building.

**"Red Crown, Mercer has left the area. Should we pursue?"**

**"Negative Tornado One. Stay alert and hold position. Medical and containment teams are inbound to recover the survivor and confirm the status of the rest of the squad."**

**"Roger Red Crown. Strike Team holding position."**

James rolled onto his back and stared into the sky, ignoring the gunships hovering above him. All his thoughts were now questions floating in his barely conscious mind. Why had Mercer let him live? What had he done to him? What was Alex Mercer? More and more questions flickered in his awareness before he lost consciousness again, only moments before the medical and containment teams arrived.

"Doesn't look too banged up; no open wounds." One of the medics checked over the unconscious Marine while another noted details. The remaining medics were on the street below checking for other survivors. Suffice to say, they didn't find any.

"Okay looks like...aww shit. Containment, get over here; he's infected. The scan almost didn't register it; must be a new strain." As the medics backed off the GENTEK containment squad got to work securing the infected to be transferred to the Yellow Zone's primary research base.

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**First Chapter Finished.**

Already partway done with the second chapter, hopefully I'll be able to upload it tomorrow if not today.

Any questions or comments are welcome, if you have the time feel free to review. This is, unlike everything else I've posted, a full story that I intend to finish myself and I hope it's worth the time and that those who read it enjoy it.


	2. Chapter 2: Escape

**I Do Not Own Prototype or Prototype** 2.

The only things in this I own are a few OC's who did not appear in this chapter, they will be showing up eventually though.

Once again editing done by He Who Sees.

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Semi Important: This story features the return of two abilities exhibited by Greene in her Flesh Golem/Eldritch Horror/One-Winged Angel form. The Crimson Shockwave, which Alex uses a small portion of near the end of this chapter. And the B.E. (Bio-Electric Energy Bolts), those green Mercer seeking energy ball things; they will be shown later.

Note: This story takes place based on real world geography, so the game map is not relevant here. I will attempt to outline the Red Line in Jersey and Brooklyn when it becomes relevant but for now just know that I'm not butchering geography as was done in Prototype 2.

Again, any questions or advice is welcome and I will try to address anything brought to my attention.

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**Chapter 2: Escape.  
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_Wake Up James!_

Heller groaned, unsure why he was unconscious and not knowing when it had happened. The voice that had roused him came again.

_James, you have to get up now! You aren't safe there! Someone wants you dead and you still aren't strong enough to fight them! GET UP!_

James' eyes flickered open before snapping shut again. "Who the fuck thought floodlights were a good thing to point at my face?"

Carefully opening his eyes, James became aware of voices somewhere above him. At first, all he could hear was muffled shouting that sounded like someone giving orders while someone else shouted for those orders to be ignored.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, James could see that he was in a large room with armored walls. It appeared he was in the center of the room and, much to his confusion and anger, he was chained to a medical table.

"I don't care what your superiors said doctor! I have my orders and I'm not going to risk another ZEUS running around! Terminate the subject!" One of the voices became clear and distinct; a man, obviously. It sounded military and James thought he recognized it from somewhere.

"Colonel, stop! We need to know what strain of the virus this man was infected with! It almost wasn't detected and he was personally infected by Mercer! We need to know why! Don't you want to know why Mercer chose him!?"

"Quite frankly doctor, I don't give a damn! Riley, burn it."

The next thing James knew, it felt like he'd been set on fire. It only took him a second or two to notice that was ,in fact, exactly what had just happened. Instinct took over and Heller broke through the restraints with barely any effort before jumping away from the fire and rolling on the floor to try and extinguish the flames that were clinging to his body.

"Shit! Target is loose! Kill team, get in there!" The voice that had been identified as a Colonel boomed over a PA system, which James distantly noted hadn't been on when he'd heard the voices before.

A blast door opened and ten soldiers James recognized as the Stormtrooper look-alikes that Blackwatch employed rushed into the room, all guns sighted on him. He froze as the Blackwatch troops fired.

Heller felt the bullets tearing into him and heard an echo that he thought may have been his own voice shouting; though what he'd said or if he'd spoken at all, he couldn't remember. He later understood that he had blacked out and simply acted without thought or comprehension of the events.

James next conscious thoughts were, unsurprisingly, along the lines of 'What the fuck?' He was standing amidst a pile of bodies and holding one of the men in the air, his own hand disappearing into the man's chest and exiting through his back.

Heller dropped the dead trooper to the floor to join his fellow soldiers and stared in confusion at his own hand, more than a little sickened by the knowledge that the chunky goo that had caked it was primarily composed of another human's heart. He was jerked back to reality by the Colonel shouting over the PA system again.

"All teams to research cell four! The target is James Heller! Shoot on sight!"

"Shit." James looked around the room quickly, noting that the door the soldiers had entered through was already closed. Even if he had managed to break those restraints and kill ten armed men with his bare hands, he doubted he could break through the blast door.

Only seconds had passed before an alarm started blaring, James briefly wondering why it hadn't been set off when he'd escaped and killed the soldiers. Again, he heard the Colonels voice, but it was quieter now than when he'd been using the PA system, which he wasn't at the moment.

"What the fuck's going on?"

Another voice answered over the intercom. "STALKERS! We've got Stalkers in-" The voice cut off with a strangled scream.

James didn't know what a Stalker was, but clearly the Colonel did as he began shouting orders over the PA system. "Base is compromised! Evacuate all essential GENTEK personnel! Wipe files and destroy all samples that can't be moved!"

Heller nearly jumped out of his skin when the voice he had heard earlier returned. _James you have to get out of there now while you have a chance. I'll try to help..._

A moment of silence followed before the voice spoke again. _There. The door's power should be off. You should be strong enough to force it open without the machinery holding it shut._

After a few seconds of debating the wisdom of listening to a voice in his head and being deafened by the alarms, James decided he really had no other options. He rushed to the door and punched the steel with every bit of force he could muster and was shocked that he didn't manage to break his hand, again. The steel gave just slightly, but it was enough to get his fingers wedged between the two portions of the door.

When trying to pry both sides of the door away from each other only resulted in budging them an inch or two, James refocused his effort on the right one. Using both hands and bracing his feet against the floor, he was able to pull the door open far enough to walk through the gap.

As soon as he brought his attention back to the world around him and stepped through the door, James found that the alarms were even louder outside of the room he had been locked in and that he could hear gunfire and screams echoing down every hall and through every vent.

Heller cautiously leaned out into the hall and found several guards, all of them dead. After quickly acquiring a weapon and a few extra clips of ammo, he examined the bodies and found that all of them were covered in claw and bite marks as if they'd been mauled by some large and wild animals; possibly lions. He also saw numerous bullet holes pocketing the walls and found that some of the soldiers seemed to have been hit with stray shots as if the whole group had been in a panic.

Bloody footprints tracked a short distance away from the slaughter before vanishing around a corner...

James decided not to go that way.

Heading down the opposite corridor apparently used by these Stalkers, Heller found more bodies mostly in the same state as the first group.

The voice returned again. _James, you're on a sub-floor right now, about three floors underground. There's a room on your left a few feet down the hall. Go in and get to the other side._

"Wonderful. Either I've lost it or God's talking to me. Great timing." James muttered to himself but still followed the directions he had been given until he found himself in a room full of computers and test tubes that lacked any other entryway or exit.

_The back wall is against an elevator shaft. The base is on emergency power right now, so the elevator isn't likely to work. You should be able to break through the wall and climb the shaft to get to ground level. _The voice spoke up, before James could begin doubting it.

Sighing, Heller slung the assault rifle over his shoulder and brought both hands together above his head before smashing them down on the wall which, to his mild surprise, cracked and buckled under the force. Another blow created yet more cracks and caused a portion of the wall to fall away, revealing the metal exterior of the elevator shaft and a variety of pipes and wires James couldn't guess at the purposes of, beyond the obvious.

Not recognizing any gas lines or other hazards, Heller delivered half a dozen more solid blows to the wall, battering and tearing his way into the elevator shaft. Once inside, James looked around and straight up, finding that, other than back the way he came, it was indeed the only option.

"Well this is going to be fun." Heller sighed and reached for the maintenance ladder on the side of the shaft.

_Jump. You can't make it the whole way up in one go, but it'll be faster than climbing_. The still unidentifiable voice advised James, its echo quality, neutral tone and pitch, and the fact that it was in his head making it impossible to even guess the gender of the owner.

"Jump?" He questioned. "How the fuck is that supposed to help?"

The voice was silent. Left to his own thoughts, James decided to attempt to follow the advice. It hadn't steered him wrong yet, so may as well humor it, he reasoned.

Sighing as he did so, James gathered himself and tensed his legs before jumping as high as he could, which to his amazement, was well more than ten feet straight up. Due to his confusion, he simply dropped back to the bottom of the shaft, which again surprised him in that it didn't hurt at all despite landing heavily from that height.

"Okay...I could get used to this." James grinned, the amused expression vanishing seconds later as he set a determined scowl on the floors above him and jumped again, this time grabbing onto the ladder at the last second before gravity caught up to him. Placing his feet firmly on the wall to either side of the ladder, James jumped again and slammed into the opposite side of the shaft just below the imobile elevator.

Grabbing the nearest suitable hand hold, James glanced around and made his way around the edge of the walls before squeezing himself up between the elevator and the walls of the shaft until he was able to crawl on top of the elevator and reach the mechanisms which held it in place. Seconds later, the entire box went crashing down the shaft.

James, holding onto the wall again, made his way to the door that would normally open into the elevator and pried it open. He wondered if it was the noise the falling elevator had caused that lead to what happened next.

"Shit! Target sighted! Open fire!"

A team of Blackwatch Troopers was waiting in the hall outside the door. One of the soldiers didn't appear to realize how dangerous it was to fire a rocket inside a building.

James eyes widened as the explosive projectile soared in his direction. Without hesitation, he dropped backwards and let himself fall to the bottom of the shaft, the rocket exploding above him and speeding his descent with a wave of force.

"Fucking Dumbasses! Who the fuck uses rockets indoors on one guy!?" James climbed to his feet while cursing only to be blown against the wall of the shaft along with the debris of the ruined elevator by another rocket.

Struggling to his feet again, James cast a quick glance up and saw that two of the soldiers were now aiming launchers at him. Cursing some more, he made a leap for the opening in the wall he had made only a few moments earlier.

A pair of explosions confirmed that he had narrowly avoided what would likely have been a very painful experience. James stood and checked himself over, noting that the minor injuries he had received from his fall were gone as the voice returned.

_I'm sorry, I didn't know they were there. You'll have to use the stairs. Head back into the hall and take a left at the end. That floor is clear for the moment so it should be safe and the stairs are clearly marked...James! Blackwatch is setting up a Bloodtox pumper on the ground floor and it looks like they're going to use the vents to fill the sub-floors! You have to get out of there, now!_

Heller had no idea what Bloodtox was, but it didn't sound good and whoever owned the voice certainly seemed worried, so he wasted no time racing out of the room and down the hall. Just as he caught sight of the stairs, James noticed a red mist beginning to pour from the vents around him.

James hesitated as the vapor began to build into a heavy fog that was quickly filling the hallway as well as the whole floor from the looks of the clouds billowing out of several rooms along the hall. He regretted his hesitation when the mist finally completed its blanketing of the floor and began to rise. The moment it touched his skin, it felt as if he was covered in open wounds and was being submerged in lemon juice.

Heller stumbled and quickly dashed to the stairway, taking little notice of the fact that he was far faster than he remembered. Even at relative super speed, the hall was mostly filled by the time he had reached the stairs and he had unfortunately taken a breath and inhaled some of the toxic vapor. His lungs felt like they were on fire and he could feel his skin just short of melting as he climbed the stairs and made his way out of the deadly cloud.

Before James could even begin to feel relief at having escaped the effects of the gas, he was alerted to the presence of another team of Blackwatch goons when one shot him right in the head. He was also given reason to believe Blackwatch was the most pathetic organization ever when the man who had shot him began gloating about getting a headshot without a scope and the others cheered for him and laughed at the very idea of killing someone.

James rolled to his left to take cover behind a door which, from the sound of things, had not been expected by the jackasses in the hall. They also didn't seem to expect him to lean out of cover and return fire if two of them hitting the floor dead while the others scattered to take cover as well was any indication.

James himself had been expecting a minor firefight based on the apparent lack of discipline and training displayed moments earlier, but what he wasn't expecting was a cacophony of screams and wild shooting accompanied by roars similar to those of the lions you'd find at the zoo. Roars that, he remembered, had amazingly not frightened Maya.

_Stalkers, James. Stay where you are._ Barring the elevator incident, the voice's advice had been sound. Still, James opted to check the situation and leaned out of cover to see what was happening.

Two of the soldiers, besides those he had killed, were now lying dead in the hall. One appeared to have been slammed into the wall with a great deal of force, so great that he was still embedded in it, while the other was lying on the floor and had seemingly died clutching at a horrendous wound in his stomach.

One of the men was hastily reloading when a growl that seemed to come from behind him startled him just as he finished. The man backed away from the apparent source of the noise and began firing wildly down the hall. Before long however, he was attacked from behind and pulled screaming into another room. James never even saw what was responsible.

After it seemed to be over, the whole event lasting less than two minutes, James stood and stepped cautiously into the hall. The realization that he had been shot in the face and was still alive skipped over his conscious thoughts for a second before being lost under the more important details of the current situation.

The men who had died outside his line of sight were in just as horrible a condition as those he had already seen. One body was missing its head and there was no sign of where it had gone, which lead to a slight worry over what Stalkers ate.

"What the fuck is going on? How the fuck did a virus cause this shit?" James said aloud, not even noticing that it had become a habit since receiving the news about his family.

Deciding not to search for the missing head or find out what had happened to the other soldiers, James headed down the hallway which, according to a sign, lead to the next flight of stairs. He had been very aware of the cloud of red vapor rising up the stairwell behind him and cursed whoever had chosen for each set of stairs to only lead from the floor below to the floor above.

James turned another corner, ignoring the occasional growls and flickers of movement he caught at the edge of his senses, and found himself less than twenty feet from a cautiously advancing team of Blackwatch's cannon fodder. In the seconds given them by the brief internal debate between Heller and his instincts, one of the men raised his weapon and fired. The grenade would have struck James in the center of his chest if it hadn't first met his rifle, blowing the weapon apart and sending it's holder sprawling onto the floor.

James rose from the ground in a daze, his vision blurred and hearing dulled. The moment his eyes locked onto the man who had shot him, the daze vanished and was replaced by an overwhelming rage. Heller roared and threw himself forward, barely feeling the bullets that tore into him, and tackled the man with the grenade launcher; his momentum carrying both of them five feet from where the man had previously stood. When they landed, James began driving his fists into the man's face as hard as he could.

When the soldiers head was nothing but paste, Heller turned his attention on the remaining stunned soldiers; all of whom snapped out of their collective shock and brought their weapons up...a little too late. The infected man's right fist connected with one man's face, the force snapping his neck and nearly rotating his head one-hundred-eighty degrees.

James began to calm down just as he stomped the head of one of the soldiers into a puddle of paste to match that left by the first of the squad he had killed. To his surprise, James found that it was incredibly easy to kill these men. He had seen and heard of the things they did, so there was no reason in his mind to regret their deaths themselves. It was the way they died that struck him; like crushing insects. So easy. These people were no threat to him nor were they his equals. They were just bugs to be squashed. That needed to be squashed.

Heller turned and smiled at the remaining soldiers (though perhaps the term 'grinned savagely' would be more appropriate) before rushing forward and grabbing one man by the wrist. A simple twist and minor effort on his part, and the man's arm was broken and nearly ripped from its socket. In another motion, he lifted the man into the air and hurled him at another of the bugs who were too stupid to run away.

Two quick steps carried him close enough to backhand another of the goons, the blow sending it crashing into a wall. James reached down and grabbed the fallen man by the ankle and swung him into the air before bringing him down on another of the black clad soldiers, killing both of them.

The last of the soldiers threw his gun down and tried to run. James smirked and retrieved a grenade from one of the dead soldiers before sprinting after the fleeing, and smartest, man he had thus far encountered. Catching up in a matter of seconds, James lifted the man off his feet and slammed him into a wall.

"What's the matter motherfucker? Why the rush?" James asked the man with a manic gleam in his eyes. "I think one of your buddies back there wanted you to have this."

As the man struggled futilely to free himself, James prepped the grenade before shoving it into the hood of his bizarre uniform. Heller just grinned as the man panicked and tried even more desperately to escape, the grenade detonating not long after and bringing a messy end to his life.

"Talk about going out with a bang." James chuckled as he dropped the remains of the soldier to the floor. He would have walked calmly away if it weren't for the red wisps of gas he could see, and feel, beginning to cover the floor.

James quickly made his way to the next flight of stairs, practically ignoring the next group of soldiers who tried to stop him. He only stopped long enough to knock them down and retrieve the pins from a grenade or two.

Reaching the stairs, James took two steps up before jumping straight to the floor, bypassing the time it would take to walk up easily. Landing, James found a great deal more activity than there had been on the first two. Most notably there was an impromptu barricade set up just outside the doorway connecting the hallway to the stairs.

With an annoyed grunt, James battered his way through the obstruction as it was mostly just a pile of desks and other assorted office furniture that was an easy enough thing for him to break. The scientists who were rushing about the halls, hurriedly attempting to escape and take as much of their research with them as they could, abandoned their efforts to take their work with them and chose to escape with their lives instead.

Heller laughed. He couldn't help but find the little lab rats panicked scurrying funny. Ignoring the scientists who wouldn't even try to defend themselves (not that they even could in the first place) James zeroed in on the nearest soldiers and began the quick but amusing process of breaking as many of their bones as he could.

Moving along, leaving the broken bodies of Blackwatch troops behind him, James quickly made his way to the next flight of stairs before any trace of Bloodtox could be seen on the first sub-floor. He was not amused to find a pair of blast doors slamming shut, caging him in the stairwell.

Just as he was about to begin pounding his way through the obstacle before him, the voice returned once more.

_Don't bother. You aren't strong enough for that. I'll see if I can get the doors open...damn. It's not working. They're on a different circuit. Stand back, I'm going to try something else._

James rolled his eyes, fairly certain the owner of the voice was underestimating him, and walked down to the landing between floors. Before he could turn to see what was going to happen, a massive explosion rocked the building and the blast doors were blown out of the wall and tumbled down towards him. He only escaped being struck by the flying slabs of metal by luck combined with his newly superhuman reflexes.

"Fucking...Fuck." James gasped as he surveyed the gaping hole where the doors had once been.

_Thermobaric Rocket. Lucky they had one on site. The Stalkers are gone, so I suggest you leave too before the smoke outside clears._ Saying this the voice vanished, as did the presence of it's owner that James hadn't even noticed until it was no longer there.

Too stunned to argue, James rushed through the opening and quickly made his way to the exit, a gaping hole in the wall the Stalkers had left in the building on their way out. The roar of fires and the shouting of men and women, orders and simple cries of panic together, assaulted his ears before he was even outside.

James stumbled out into the chaos that was the base exterior. People were running every which way, trying to extinguish fires, and the smoke was so thick that made it impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. As he wandered through the mess, unseen or simply unnoticed by the base's usual residents, James realized he didn't even know where he was.

Before he could dwell too much on the worries about his location, a whistling sound brought his attention to the air above him. A figure sped down from the sky and crashed to the ground before him and, in a blur of speed, James felt a hand seize him by the throat before he was carried into the air and away from the confusion around him.

A jarring landing seconds later, and Heller found himself shoved offhandedly into a wall as his apparent rescuer turned to glance back at the base. As he rose back to his feet, James recognized the symbol on the back of his jacket.

"Mercer..." Heller snarled and rushed forward.

Alex turned back to face his unwilling associate and was not surprised to find the man's fist headed for his face once again. The impact jarred Heller while Alex didn't even budge. It's worth noting that James didn't break his hand this time.

Mercer allowed another punch to find its mark on the opposite side of his face before taking a step back with his right foot and using his left hand to push Heller's third punch off course toward the ground at an angle.

As James caught himself mid-stumble and pulled himself back to a full standing position, a flare of color caught his eye just before Mercer's open palm was slammed forward. The strike never touched James, but that didn't stop him from being blown back into the wall where he had landed only moments earlier.

James ran over what he had seen in his head as he pulled himself to his feet. Starting at his wrist, Mercer's hand started to glow before the oddity flowed into, and seemed to vanish, into his palm. When Mercer struck, the air was distorted and discolored as if seen from a distance on a hot day, and it was this air that had thrown him into the wall.

"I told you before James, it was amusing _once_. Patience is not something I'm good at and I'd rather not kill you in a fit of rage." Mercer ended this line with a sigh. "Now, I would have explained before but you wasted too much time."

"Shut the fuck up!" James, now on his feet again, shouted. "I don't need to hear any of your bullshit!"

"This isn't middle school Heller. Cursing and shouting doesn't make you any more intimidating than you were before...which really isn't much to be honest." Mercer shook his head before cutting James off when he tried to respond. Another wave of distorted air slammed him into the wall, though not as intensely this time. "Do you even know what's happening here?"

"You released your fucking 'Mercer Virus' again, that's what! You're trying to wipe out the whole fucking city!" James spat out, scowling but not sure what else he could do.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "The 'Mercer-' Oh! Right, I forgot about that. Propaganda, probably Rooks' idea. Rather pointless since everyone already thinks I'm a terrorist. Anyways, the proper term for it is DX-1118 CA, the strain causing all of this. It's a mutated line of the original genetic codes responsible for the First Outbreak. I didn't release it."

"And you expect me to believe that? Your virus killed my family!" James roared.

Mercer groaned. "Why would I single you out? Why would the virus? What makes you so special? And if I was responsible for your family's fate why would I give you the chance to reach a greater potential than a human could ever hope to reach on their own? Why would I empower you if there was a real reason for you to fight me?" Alex crossed his arms. "James, you aren't the only person who had a chance to survive the change."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" James remained tensed but he was listening now.

"You were on a list of people compiled by Blackwatch. Actually...you were on two of their little lists, but that's not important right now. I found it in their files; people they had tracked down who, like Greene, had the potential to survive the infection. To be changed, but remain living beings rather than becoming simple carriers for the virus to spread itself." Mercer paused. When Heller said nothing, he continued. "You were one of those with the highest chances of survival, 84.5%. Your daughter was one of the few with greater odds. A 97.3% chance of survival."

"What did you say!?" James rushed forward only to be caught and lifted into the air, the hand around his throat applying nearly no pressure and Mercer not even batting an eye.

"I said Maya was on the list too. GENTEK had an interest in her. I'm not saying they released the virus, but they may have something to do with what happened to your family." Mercer dropped Heller, who landed on his feet, simply staring into space.

"Bastards...those Bastards!" James clenched his fists and was about to jump, intending to seek out and kill everyone he could find who had ever worked for GENTEK, when Alex caught him again and shoved him back into the wall, further compromising its structural integrity.

"That won't help Heller. I didn't infect you so you could go on a killing spree. I can't deal with this alone, obviously. If I could the problem would be solved already. I need help and you're one of the few people who would be willing to do this without some kind of reward for it. Your reasons may be selfish, but they don't conflict with my own." Mercer stepped towards him and held out his hand, not in an offer to help him stand.

James' vision blurred and he felt a foreign presence in his mind. Suddenly flashes of memory began rushing through his consciousness. Someone _else's_ memories. A graduation. Joining the army. Promotions. Mission briefings. Approached by Blackwatch. Reassigned. The First Outbreak. Codename: Zeus. Current assignment: Yellow Zone, Red Line, third guard unit. Previous contact with Suicide Division Lieutenant (Identity Classified). Last Reported Location. An aerial view of a building James vaguely recognized flashed in his mind.

The last thing he 'heard' before the foreign presence disappeared was a full formation of soldiers, the owner of the memories among them, reciting a creed he'd never heard before.

_"When we hunt, we kill!_

_No one is safe!_

_Nothing is sacred!_

_We are Blackwatch!_

_We are the last line of defense!_

_We will burn our own to hold the red line; it is the last line to ever hold!"_

The memories faded into the background of his mind and his vision cleared. Mercer stood back and placed his hands in his jacket pockets before speaking. "I'll give you some time to get adjusted. When you're ready, we'll talk again."

James struggled to his feet and watched as Mercer rocketed into the sky, appearing to head east if his guess about the time and location of the sun was correct.

"Okay then, let's see where I am." James climbed to the top of the tallest of the buildings he was closest to and was surprised to find himself on the Waterfront in Jersey. Only a few minutes run from his home, at his new speed anyway...


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome to the Yellow Zone

**Obviously I don't own Prototype.**

**Okay, let's just assume from now on that all editing was done by, or with a great deal of assistance from, He Who Sees.**

* * *

To coincidencless: Surprisingly no, I didn't borrow the Stalkers from Laluzi, I hadn't read that chapter of that story yet. The Stalkers in my story are based off creatures from another game as are three other Infected that will definitely be making a few appearances in the story. Had only recently, with a great deal of help from He Who Sees, chosen the names for these Infected and Stalker just so happened to be shared between two separate creatures in two different stories.

I should note(should have in the first chapter) that this story will eventually get much more extreme as it goes. I will never go as far as the end of P2 did with that whole 'Screw logic and reason! And while we're at it screw the Laws of Physics too!' thing but I will be going much further from the 'realistic' setting Prototype takes place in.

To anyone who had worries about it. I do not think it makes any sense how Prototype 2 ended, and I have no intention of letting my story go the same way. I do not believe Heller being a threat to Alex made any sense based on the facts established in the first game and I was very upset by the character derailment of not only Alex but Dana as well, and even the entire world in which the game takes place.

Blackwatch in this story is not pointlessly evil, a segment near the end of this chapter explains the presence of the Prototype 2 Dumb-ass Brigade to a degree. Rooks is out of character a bit because of a situation that will be explained later.

In this chapter Alex does something I think some people may not think he should be able to do, you should know it when you see it. I thought about it a lot before putting it in and saw no reason it couldn't be done.

Now without further babbling from me.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Yellow Zone.**

Heller dropped back into the alley before walking out into the street and really getting a look at what comprised the 'Yellow Zone'. People gathered around garbage cans with fires burning in them, everyone looking over their shoulders and discussing the downright inhuman way they were treated by Blackwatch's goon patrol.

A light thud attracted his attention to a girl, couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen, dropping from a fire escape and jogging over to a group of people who seemed to have been waiting for her. James smiled a little as the girl, a bigger smile on her face, pulled a backpack off her back and started handing out food and medicine to the people who clearly needed it.

"Least there are still some good people..." James trailed off as he watched two men spray painting a wall. Really he didn't have any problem with it, it was the attention it was attracting from certain other parties that worried him.

A trio of Blackwatch soldiers marched up to the men and roughly forced them to the ground. James shook his head. It wasn't his problem and he had more important things to worry about, but of course, his self-created clothing and general attitude just had to attract the leader of the group's attention.

"Hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going?" The man with the ridiculous helmet shouted. When Heller ignored him he stepped in front of him, which was obviously not a good idea. "You listening to me, 'Bro'?"

James took a deep breath. He may have had other things to do, but this jackass was just asking for it. Meanwhile, down the way he had came, the girl he had noticed before had now taken notice of the quickly deteriorating situation and had resolved to prevent it from escalating.

"I'm in trouble for this, I know it..." She whispered to herself after handing the remaining 'donated' supplies to the small group she had most recently aided. A few seconds of calm walking followed by a sudden sprint just as Heller tensed to attack the soldier brought her within striking distance.

James and the soldiers both heard the sudden shout the girl gave just as she leaped forward and drove both feet into the lead man's stomach. Leaning forward and placing her hands on the man's shoulders, the girl flipped over him. Right foot landing first, she twisted around while leaning forward and flipping the stunned and wounded soldier over her head, bringing him horizontal with the ground.

A quick twist to complete her rotation saw the man hurled through the air at his fellow 'soldiers'. As the shocked men were bowled over by their leader's flying body, the girl turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Heller watched, quite impressed, as the girl jumped over the hood of a parked car before she ran most of the way up a fence before heaving herself over the top and disappearing from sight.

The two soldiers quickly extricated themselves from under the body of their leader, startled to find him dead. Both were less than pleased and were extremely vocal about it.

"Fuck, he's dead! Little bitch actually killed him!" One of the two grabbed one of the fallen rifles as he stood.

"Shit, when I get my hands on that little-" Both men were cut off when James lifted both into the air, one hand around each of their throats.

A quick squeeze crushed both men's trachea, silencing them quite effectively. James dropped the bodies to the ground before he heard the shocked and horrified voices of the people around him. If they really knew what kind of people Blackwatch hired, they'd be thanking him for killing those assholes.

"Wonder if that kid even knows she killed a man." James shook his head and decided to get out of the area before more Blackwatch troops showed up. A quick few jumps and a brief vertical sprint got him to the roof of a nearby building.

Something he had failed to notice last time he was on a rooftop attracted James' attention to the north: a red haze in the air that was low to the ground. Helicopters seemed to be patrolling right over the discolored area.

"May as well check it out." James grunted as he leapt to the nearest rooftop, barely clearing the distance. "Need to work on that."

A few minutes and a dozen more jumps brought James within clear view of a thirty foot high wall. Along the top of the wall, spaced twenty feet apart, were what appeared to be automated gun turrets. Below each turret's position was an odd device that he vaguely remembered being told were viral detectors; he hadn't exactly been paying attention during the briefings before he was sent into the Red Zone.

James also noticed soldiers patrolling along the top of the wall. They were clearly Blackwatch, but something was...different about them. At his current distance, he wasn't sure what it was and he didn't think getting closer was a good idea since he was obviously looking at the quarantine line.

_The Red Line_. A fragment of someone else's memory told him. He'd noticed similar, if less severe, fortifications around both openings to the Holland tunnels between Jersey and Manhattan; the walls extending right to the waterline of the Hudson. James turned west and followed them, keeping a healthy distance between himself and the barriers as he had a bad feeling about that red haze that appeared to have it's source just beyond the wall.

The wall extended all the way to Hoboken Avenue before turning to follow the same path as the road until it reached the 78 overpass. There, it turned and cut an almost straight line south.

James found a roof high enough to give him a clear view while still being a good distance from the wall and climbed to the top. What he saw was...unpleasant to say the least.

On the opposite side of the wall, James could see a matching structure that appeared to mimic the first wall exactly; it followed the same path as the first and was just as heavily guarded and it's top was also patrolled by Blackwatch soldiers.

The most noticeable difference between them and the men he had seen on the 'wrong' side of the Red Line were the uniforms. The men on the walls were dressed in far more professional looking military attire, definitely special ops. But to James, the most interesting difference between these men and the ones he had encountered already was the way they moved. The men on the walls carried themselves like professionals; they were disciplined and orderly. Where their counterparts in the Yellow Zone would strut and swagger as they moved, these men were alert and aware of their surroundings.

What worried James the most though was the confirmation of his hunch: the red haze was Bloodtox. The full sixty feet of space between the two walls was obscured by a thick cloud of the vile substance, the cloud itself nearly reaching to the top of the walls. The Bloodtox would be bad enough; trying to get through that cloud after getting to the wall while the viral detectors signaled his location for the automated turrets and the guards would be impossible.

The fact that the line was also patrolled heavily by gunships didn't even need to be taken into account for James to know he didn't want to try breaking through.

"Fuck, looks like I'm not going anywhere. Least that ought to keep any other Infected from getting out too." James grumbled, taking a last glance at what appeared to be a command post set up on the opposite side of the far wall before jumping away east.

James wandered for a few minutes, wondering what Mercer counted as him being 'ready' to talk. A rather old and beat up truck attracted his attention, nothing special about it. It just looked heavy and he wanted to test his super strength.

"No one's around...eh, fuck it." James decided it didn't really matter if anyone saw him and walked into the lot, straight up to the truck. It was easy to flip the vehicle up on it's side long enough to get a grip on the bottom before lifting the whole thing into the air.

* * *

Meanwhile, back down on the waterfront, Alex Mercer stood with his hands in his jacket pockets, looking at Manhattan. Had anyone bothered, or been willing, to get close enough, they would have seen his eyes switch to a pure black before he began seemingly speaking to himself in a hushed tone.

"Continue observing the base for now. Follow any convoys and report their destinations." He blinked. "Suppress hostile presence in grid four-two." Blink. "Don't let them be attacked. Intercept and eliminate the aggressors." Blink. "All other courses of action present too many risks. Burn the building and clear the area." Blink. "Lair entrance confirmed. Blackwatch presence acceptable. Let them hold the position for now and return to patrol."

Eyes returning to normal Alex retrieved a phone from his pocket and hit one of the several numbers he had on speed dial. "Omega: situation in Brooklyn."

"Not as green as Rooks' claims, but you knew that. I've got three Runners marked right now. Should I take them out or..."

"No. Right now, I need you to get back to Manhattan and deal with an infestation near the Museum of Natural History." Alex paused. "After you've dealt with that, take a delivery from The Core down to St Augustine's."

"Got it." The call finished and Alex was about to put his phone away when it rang.

"Is everything alright?" The concern in the monster's voice would have surprised most anyone. A sigh escaped him, a sub-conscious imitation of human behaviour. "No, it's not a problem. Just don't attract too much attention." A relieved answer from the caller drew a small smile from Alex. "Be careful and try not to do anything beyond your capabilities." Alex hung up and returned his phone to his pocket.

"The city isn't burning down so I guess I can leave Heller on his own a bit longer." Alex put his hands back in his pockets and walked away, a few minor cosmetic shifts being all it took to keep anyone from recognizing him.

* * *

Heller dropped to the ground and marched up to the front door of the church. Guerra was clearly surprised to see him, if the near heart attack was anything to go by.

A few minutes later James exited the church and made his way to the top of the tallest building in the area. "Okay, so how do I find these guys?" James almost didn't notice the presence before the voice that had aided him before returned.

_Do you know who you're looking for? Name? Rank?_

"Okay, I let this mind reading shit slide before, but who are you and what the fuck do you think you're doing in my head?" James snarled at the unknown owner of the voice.

_I'm just trying to help you Heller, and for your information, I could be getting myself into a lot of trouble doing it. I'm not reading your mind either by the way. If I was, why would I ask who you're after?_

"If you're not reading my mind, how do you know I'm looking for anyone?"

_...I was, well...I, heard you and Father Guerra so I just thought I'd help._

Among the other things that ran through Heller's mind at hearing that the owner of the voice was close enough to have been listening in on his conversation with Guerra, he couldn't help but recall the image of a building and the rank of lieutenant from the flash of memories Mercer had forced into his head.

_AHA! I can find that, just a...got it. You're looking for one of these two men. The faces of two men flashed through his mind. They're the only two lieutenants who've been posted there since you, um, acquired that memory and since that man...died_. The voice actually managed to convey a sense of sadness at the thought of a Blackwatch soldier's death.

"Alright then, so I go there and what? Beat on them until they tell me what I want to know?" James glared at empty space waiting for the response.

_You could try that...but, I don't think it would work very well though. I, um, if you want, I can get the information you're looking for. Just tell me what you need to know._

"No fucking way. If you aren't gonna tell me who you are, why the fuck should I tell you what I'm trying to learn?"

_You're not...fine. Just find them. Once you've got them...damn it. I don't...I can't explain this...Just, feel this when you have them._

An unpleasant and extremely bizarre sensation ran through James body and he was more than a little disturbed to see his skin, and clothing, briefly take on the appearance of over sauced spaghetti.

"What the fuck was that!?" James shouted, not noticing the panic it caused in the streets below.

_I'm sorry. It's just how you have to do this if you aren't going to let me help._ The voice and its presence vanished again.

James rolled his eyes and took a quick sprint before jumping east. "Washington Boulevard it is then. Better find these assholes before they decide to crawl under a rock somewhere."

A few minutes later found James crouched on a nearby roof, watching one of the men climbing into a helicopter as the other gave half assed orders to the remaining goons.

"Fuck. Hope this bastard's the one I'm after." James focused briefly on the feeling he'd experienced a short while ago and was pleased, though not happy, to see his skin dissolve partially into a writhing mass of tendrils. "Alright, time to see how that's supposed to help me."

Lacking any subtle method of approach, as it was a restricted area, James opted for a direct method. Sprint, jump, land, grab, bizarre sensation and spaghetti effect...

"Yeah this is a fucking fool proof plan." James muttered to himself sarcastically.

The moment he was in the air the goon squad spotted him. The small arms fire they were peppering him with may not have been able to put him down, but bullets still hurt and were extremely annoying. James crashed into his target and both slammed to the ground.

Instinct took over as James pulled back his hand and initiated the feeling of being spaghetti. His fist slammed into the man's chest and tendrils writhed from his arm into the rapidly dying body. Seconds later the man was gone and James was reliving fragments of his memories.

"FUCK! What the fuck was that?!" James regained his own perceptions and re-discovered that he was in danger, if the bullets punching into him were any indication. "Okay, need to get out of here."

James killed two of the soldiers as he fled, accidentally consuming one in the process and barely managing to restrain the flood of information. He was morbidly pleased to note that consuming the man seemed to have repaired most of the damage he had taken up to that point.

The hail of bullets ceased as he stumbled into an alley only to be blown off his feet as a missile from a gunship detonated right behind him. James rolled to his feet and glared as the chopper fired again.

He jumped to his left to avoid the missile and took brief cover behind a dumpster. An idea struck him then about a way to, at the very least, throw the gunship off his trail long enough to appropriately hide. Just as the pilot was preparing to fire again, James lifted the dumpster over his head and hurled it at the vehicle.

While the pilot veered off to avoid a collision with the flying trash receptacle, James dashed down the alley and jumped as soon as he was out of its line of sight. Once safe in another alley and sure no one was watching, Heller instinctively shifted, taking on the form of the second soldier he had consumed.

"Okay, now this is gonna be useful." James remarked to himself while looking over the disguise. "Anton Koenig? That's the asshole back at the lab. I'll find him later."

Suddenly, a realization struck him like one of those missiles would have.

"Fuck yes! I know where that other fucker is!"

James made his way to Warren Street with little trouble, only pissing off Blackwatch thugs once the whole trip. Upon arrival, a short jump while no one was looking took him to the roof of one building and sure enough, down in the courtyard area, was the man he was looking for.

"Alright asshole, say your prayers." James whispered as he jumped down, landing like a brick, right behind the lieutenant.

"The fu-!" The lieutenant was cut off as Heller lifted him into the air before slamming him onto the ground and driving his foot through the mans chest.

James began flashing through fragments of the man's memories as the remaining soldiers began firing on him, mostly out of panic and confusion. The fragmented memories were overlayed with a discussion between the man and another lieutenant which nearly turned violent. The other lieutenant was named Riley and was the right hand man of Colonel Rooks.

"Rooks...Mercer mentioned him, and he was at the lab. Fucker tried to kill me!" James muttered as he righted himself, just in time to be blown off his feet by a rocket. "Shit!"

James hastily made his exit, less out of any real fear of the soldiers or their weapons, and more because he just wanted to find and kill Rooks and Koenig as soon as possible. Much to his irritation, after arriving back at the church, Guerra informed him that Rooks was no longer in the Yellow Zone and that he had no method of finding Koenig.

Hours later, James rolled off the couch he had slept on that was lying on a rooftop, roused from his sleep by the sudden rainstorm that had nearly drowned him. Turns out, sleeping with your mouth open isn't a good idea.

Though all in all it was for the best that he woke up. Otherwise, he may have missed Guerra's call.

"James, I just intercepted a communication between Blackwatch bases. They're transporting something from the Red Zone to one of their bases here."

"Like they did with me. Think it could be someone else Mercer 'recruited'?"

"I don't know, but they've got heavy guard on whatever it is."

"Alright, I'll go check it out. Where's the convoy?"

"They've ordered Marin Boulevard cleared of traffic. Follow the road and you should find them easily enough. James, please be careful and try not to cause any trouble."

"Don't worry about it Father, I'll be fine." James hung up and made his way to Marin Boulevard before heading north. Guerra had been right; he almost ran right into the convoy only moments later.

James took cover on a nearby roof and observed the convoy. "Two APCs? One truckload of fucking stormtroopers? Guerra thinks this is heavy?"

* * *

In one of GENTEK's research labs, one that was supposed to be receiving a shipment of specimens from Manhattan, one of the scientists nearly panicked when the call from the convoy came in. Instead, she chose to simply freeze and stare at the speaker.

"**We are under attack! Hostile is Tango Primary James Heller! Transport one is crippled and we confirm specimen is awake and it does not sound happy! If you jackasses could get some help out here that woul-"** The call cut off. The APC had been destroyed.

"No...no, no, no." The woman turned and bolted for the door, not caring who saw or what they thought. She chose to forgo the elevator ride to the surface, climbed onto the top of the box and jumped up the shaft, prying the ground floor door open when she reached it.

Ignoring the cries of shock and anger from those she knocked down in her hurry, the woman rammed through the security door and launched herself into the air, changing direction mid-flight, and headed north.

She arrived just in time to witness the second Brawler escape its containment before it roared and jumped onto the side of a building. The creature then made a mad dash for the nearest concentration of live humans, civilians, more importantly.

Heller, cursing all the while, chased after the monster. The woman followed unseen, praying this wouldn't escalate any further.

"Hey you fucker, where you think you're going!" James grabbed a dumpster and hurled it at the creature's back. While this did get it's attention, it mostly just served to annoyed the Brawler.

The hideous creature turned and roared before charging at Heller, who simply planted his feet and brandished his new claws. The fight ended before it began when a thick black spike erupted from the ground and impaled the creature, which struggled weakly for a moment before falling limp.

"The fuck...?" Was all James had to say about the event.

"I think that's what I should be saying." Alex nearly shouted as he retracted the single ground spike and withdrew his arm from the ground. "What were you thinking? Did you have even the slightest idea what was in those containers?"

"How the fuck was I supposed to know they were importing those monsters?"

"You've already learned to consume; did it not cross your mind to do so with one of the soldiers to find out what it was they had captured?" Alex groaned. The sound of a gunship approaching wasn't much of a physical concern but if he was seen, the whole zone would be upgraded to the same level of attention Blackwatch had given Manhattan. "I'll find you later. Right now, get out of here."

Alex kicked a manhole cover in and dropped into the sewer before Heller could argue.

Dodging the first few missiles, James made his way to a rooftop and hurled everything that wasn't, and most of what was, nailed down at the aircraft. By the time James had taken down the gunship, the 'scientist' had fled the area, leaving him oblivious to her presence.

* * *

Dropping into another alley a few blocks away, the imitation scientist dropped her disguise, wincing as she did so. "That could have-"

"Been a disaster?" Alex raised an eyebrow as the young woman stumbled away from him, right arm extending into a straight, double edged blade. Upon realizing who she was speaking to, she quickly willed her arm back to normal.

"I...I didn't plan on...I wasn't going to-" Alex waved off her attempts at explaining her actions.

"It doesn't matter. The civilian casualties were minimal, thankfully. Heller will, hopefully, learn from this and not make the same mistake again. What I'm worried about is you. I told you to be careful and instead you rush into a situation that could have easily lead to your discovery, or worse: capture." Alex finished with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I was in one of their bases and I heard that the convoy was under attack. I didn't know what else to do so...I panicked."

"Don't worry about it; just remember this and learn from it. Try to stay away from Heller if you can, okay? I have to go have a talk with him and then I need to go back to The Core. Come back in a few hours if you can. I'm almost done with the next gene sequence." Alex nodded slightly to her before vanishing.

* * *

Elsewhere, James had just finished explaining the incident with the Brawlers to Guerra. Just as he hung up and was about to seek out a few Blackwatch soldiers to 'interrogate', James felt an odd sort of pull in his mind. Unconsciously following the silent nudging brought him to the edge of the Hudson.

"The fuck am I doing here?" James glanced to his left and saw the marina of the yacht club. All the boats had been sunk, but it was still recognizable.

"We need to talk." Alex spoke up from behind to draw Heller's attention to him. "I have to take some responsibility for what happened; I did leave you unsupervised after all. But no matter who's taking the blame though, the fact remains that you acted without any thought to the consequences of your actions. I was guilty of that more times than I'd like to count last year, which is why I will not tolerate it from you here and now. I know what that kind of carelessness can lead to and that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. The last mistake I made during the First Outbreak is what lead to this one."

"So you're saying this is all your fucking fault? Well no fucking shit!" Heller shifted both arms to claws. "Maybe I can fix your fuck ups myself. Maybe I don't need to listen to you acting like you're the fucking shit! Give me a good fucking reason not to gut you like a fucking trout!"

"Really Heller?" Alex raised his right foot and stomped down, a good portion of his leg vanishing into the earth.

A cluster of black spikes erupted from the ground just a few feet between the two. While none really hit James, they did make it impossible for him to move much as all of them, save for one that stopped just an inch from piercing his heart, were angled to restrain his limbs.

"You think that just because you picked up one of my weapons you're strong enough to fight me?" The spikes shifted apart and quickly disappeared back into the ground, Alex extricating his leg seconds later. "James: listen to me very, _very_ carefully. The virus needs to be stopped. Blackwatch needs to be stopped. GENTEK needs to be stopped. Those who funded all of this to begin with need to be stopped. I don't care how you feel about me or what you think. The only thing that matters is that you do what I need you to do and don't make the situation worse in the process."

James scowled at Alex but shifted his arms back to normal. "And what is it you need me to do?"

"Damage Blackwatch, sabotage GENTEK, suppress the infected. That's what I need from you." Alex walked past James, to the very edge of the water. "I wasn't going to bother telling you this, but I think you need to understand something Heller. If you betray me, if you compromise my plans, I will kill you. Remember that."

Before Heller could respond to his declaration, Alex jumped a few feet off the ground and dove into the Hudson. Moments later, as lightning split the sky, a mass of tentacles writhed, just barely visible beneath the water before disappearing into the dark waves.

"The fu...he's a fucking squid now?!" James barely restrained his impulse to jump into the water after the shapeshifter.

* * *

**Ellis Island / Blackwatch Command**

"_**GRAH!" **_An incomprehensible growl preceded the wholesale destruction of a solid wall of concrete. Captain Richter lifted a mostly intact cinderblock and hurled the object east toward Brooklyn and the cause of her frustration, Colonel Rooks. With such force behind it, the angle of the throw was the only thing that may have spared someone a very messy end to their day.

As the roughly thirty pound block splashed into the water, more than sixty meters out, the Captain took several deep breaths. _**"That idiot! Command's orders were clear! He's supposed to gather data! Not attempt to eradicate the Infected himself!"**_

The Captain's thoughts drifted back to the late report she had received from Rooks less than half an hour ago.

"_**Mercer singling out a Marine for Infection with an unknown strain of the virus, a Marine who just happens to be on file as a potential recruit. Stalkers in the Yellow Zone, and your men didn't even manage to learn anything more about them. A man infected with an unknown strain loose in the Yellow Zone. Raids on supply depots. Koenig continuing work on Project Orion against orders. And on top of all that, the destruction of a convoy transporting Infected Specimens to a research lab and the resulting loss of both subjects as well as multiple civilian casualties. And you're only reporting all of this now because you felt like it? With all due respect Colonel, what were you thinking?"**_ Gilda nearly shouted over the radio.

"I didn't see any reason to bother Command with such minor concerns. We're handling it_ Captain_."

"_**It isn't your job to 'handle it' Colonel. You were placed in command of the Suicide Division to control them and use them to study the behavior of the Infected. Your mission is to give us a reliable approximation of the Infected numbers and capabilities, as well as develop strategies to counter them. Your 'soldiers' are expendable reconnaissance, not combat personnel."**_

"That was the mission when it was assigned, yes. But I believe we can deal with this Outbreak without resorting to any full scale assault on Manhattan by _your_ forces _Captain_. My GENTEK research teams assure me that they are close to a breakthrough to cure the virus, and that by the end of the month we'll have not only eradicated the infection here, but we will also have eliminated any threat the virus may have posed in the future."

"_**Colonel, we have no information that gives us even the slightest idea of what Mercer is planning. We can't afford to let our guard down because you 'think' you 'might' have a solution a month from now. We weren't ready for the First Outbreak and we nearly lost everything. If you don't start following orders and doing your job as it was assigned, I will go to Command with this. I will not let your desire to put a feather in your cap turn this country into the spitting image of Manhattan island."**_

Gilda ground her teeth, her grip on the table reducing the wood under her palms to pulp without her noticing when Rooks chuckled through the speakers.

"_Captain_, I assure you there's nothing to worry about. If it will help you sleep at night, I'll gather all the data I can. I'll send out a few teams in the Red Zone as soon as we're done here."

Gilda growled almost inaudibly before changing the subject. _**"Rooks, watch Koenig. I don't know why you've let him continue the Orion project, but I don't trust him and neither do his superiors at GENTEK. He was sent because they said he was their best expendable asset."**_

Gilda had finished listening to the report, which added to her growing sense that Rooks was losing his priorities and her worries that she may be too late once the order to move her forces into Manhattan came.

As soon as Rooks ended the call, Gilda had walked as calmly as she could out of the re-purposed Museum. As soon as she was sure no one would see her do so, she leapt across the water, went to the nearest unneeded structure, and began demolishing it.

Thirty minutes later, it wasn't hard to find the Captain. As evidenced by a lieutenant coming to look for her to deal with a few discipline issues in his squad.

Gilda uncrossed her arms and turned to face the man, who was nearly a full foot shorter than her. _**"What sort of issues? And why do you feel you need my help Lieutenant?"**_

"New recruits ma'am. They don't seem to understand what we're dealing with and have been getting rowdy. I thought maybe a demonstration of what they can expect to see in the Red Zone would solve both problems." The man glanced at the rubble around the Captain's feet.

Gilda caught his expression, the unspoken third reason he'd come looking for her. She appreciated the concern...and the provision of an outlet for her frustration that wasn't innocent architecture.

* * *

**And That's Chapter Three!**

In case anyone cares enough to check it out you can use Google maps to find some of the streets and locations mentioned here, as well as others that will be mentioned in the future. It may also give you a better idea of exactly where the Yellow Zone in this story is.

So that's one OC officially introduced. **Captain Gilda**(golden, gilded) **Richter**(judge). She's six feet tall, forty six years old, she has pale blonde hair and grey eyes. I wont likely make much mention of her appearance so I thought I should put it in somewhere. As a result of the super soldier project that replaced the D-Codes Gilda looks a bit younger than she actually is. She keeps her short hair in a tight braid on the back of her head.

**Blackwatch/ Suicide Division.**

**A branch of the organization that was created after the First Outbreak. The higher ups in the organization arranged for the 'deaths' of numerous inmates at various maximum security prisons and gave those men the option of working for Blackwatch or being killed on the spot, several men doubted the threat and were promptly shot.**

**The purpose of the group is to act as a shield between the regular troops and the Infected. While the SD troops hold the Infected back the real soldiers study the behavior and capabilities of the Infected to develop methods of dealing with them more effectively.**

Okay, now I really don't want to do this but as I'm desperate. Please Review this. I will continue working on and posting chapters but it would help me make the story better if I could get some idea what those reading this do and don't want to see. And reviews can be very encouraging so please at the very least let me know if you enjoyed reading this even a little.

**Thank You and I hope you continue reading.**


	4. Chapter 4: Foreshadowing

**Notes: Official intro of some characters, one previously seen and another mentioned I think. More importantly, sorry to those who actually want to read more of this story. I didn't mean to leave it as long as I did but other things distracted me, which is probably a good thing, otherwise I may have just rushed ahead since I want to get to the more thoroughly planned scenes that occur later and that would ruin things.  
**

**Son of Notes: Stalkers make an actual appearance at the end of this chapter, they're not doing anything but they are there. I seem to have lost the other notes that were supposed to go here so on with the show.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Foreshadowing**

"Can you explain this doctor?" The acting commander of research base two-four played the security footage taken the night before, when the woman sitting across from him had stormed out of the facility.

The scientist watched with clear confusion on her face as 'she' ran through the halls, knocked other workers aside like bowling pins, and physically forced her way through a reinforced steel security door. Last of all was the brief sight caught by the bases external cameras of her leap out of the base.

"I don't understand. Sir that couldn't...it wasn't me! I wasn't even on the base last night!"

A soldier, one of the few true Blackwatch troops in the Yellow Zone, spoke up. "It's true sir. We have several witnesses placing the doctor in her quarters at the time of the event. We also put her through all phases of scanning and security checks before bringing her in: she checked out clean sir."

The officer sighed. "Rerun all the checks and scans, double check the results. When that's done: ten minutes under Bloodtox. If you're clean doctor, you will return to work as scheduled with a constant guard on watch. Dismissed!"

After the soldiers escorted the distraught woman out to be scanned a second time the acting commander groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Sergeant?"

"Yes sir?"

"What do you think this means?"

"Honestly sir? It looks like Mercer, or one of his creatures, has learned to imitate humans without killing them." The sergeant grimaced at the thought, as did his superior. "I just hope that's not the case."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. If it's true though...Damn it! As if things weren't bad enough." The commander punched in several codes on the computer on his desk. "Red Crown, connect me to Ellis Island Command."

"**Just a moment commander."**

"You're not informing Colonel Rooks, sir?" The sergeant raised an eyebrow behind his mask.

"I'll report this to him _after _Command has been notified. Rooks is too much like Randall if you ask me, and if Captain Richter being given full command of the operation next month is any indication, the higher ups think so too. If we report to him first he'll try to keep it quiet to keep his own plans from falling apart."

"**You are connected commander. Lieutenant Kenneth Scott is on the line."**

"**You weren't scheduled to make a report today commander. What happened?" **The Lieutenant queried.

"Lieutenant, I have some information that needs to get to Captain Richter ASAP. I hope you're sitting down..."

* * *

**Jersey City/The Waterfront/ Yellow Zone**

James stood, shaking his head to clear the fog of another persons life, ignoring the puddle of blood that was all that remained of the Blackwatch soldier. He brought his phone out of his pocket and called the old priest.

"Father, I got something. See what you can find on a delivery made to base three-one three days ago. Sounds like more of those monsters got shipped there."

"Okay James, I'll call you back soon with what I can find."

"Alright." James hung up, returning his phone to his pocket. "Now what? Guess I can kick around some Blackwatch assholes, see if any of them know anything worth shit."

Grinning, James jumped onto the wall of a building and ran to the roof. From there he began leaping from building to building, searching for a patrol of Blackwatch soldiers.

After a minute or two of travel, James shouted. "Fuck!"

Barely, landing on a roof James looked around. "Okay, who's the fucker with a death wish?" Snarled the infected soldier, as the burn on the side of his head healed. He'd never expected someone to use a flare gun on him.

James followed the quickly fading smoke trail to it's source, standing in an alley was a girl with red hair, he vaguely recognized her as the one who had unknowingly killed a soldier just the other day. In her hand was the gun responsible for his sudden stop.

Quickly covering the distance between them, James loomed over the girl, scowling down at her. She didn't appear afraid, nervous certainly but not afraid. The girl slipped the flare gun into an inner pocket on her dark red jacket and took a step back before speaking.

"Sorry about the flare." The girl paused and took a deep breath." There are some Marines planning a raid on a Blackwatch supply depot, they could use some help and I thought maybe you could...um, you know, help them out? Maybe help move some heavy stuff? Load trucks if they need it? Or at least give Blackwatch something else to worry about?" As she spoke, the girl shifted from her right foot to her left, tugging nervously at one of the four ponytails her hair was tied into.

"And just how the fuck do you know I could get those fuckers attention?" James snarled. It didn't seem to affect the girl at all.

"Well, I saw you jumping around like that, and I saw you fight that Brawler yesterday...and, you're James Heller right?" At his grunt she continued. "My dad said that Blackwatch reported Alex Mercer infecting you in the Red Zone, and that since you're still alive you might be like him, not as strong but..."

"And how the fuck does your dad know that?" James clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"He intercepts their transmissions a lot. He's...we're trying to help people and Blackwatch makes that hard so, we kind of, sabotage them sometimes." She said putting her hands in her pockets, looking anywhere but at him. "Anyway, the Marines will be stopping at Hamilton Park to wait while they check out what kind of security Blackwatch has set up, so you can probably catch them there."

"I'll think about it." James said, actually considering it. Before he could worry about something that wouldn't help him accomplish his own goals though James wanted to get something else out of the way. "So your dad knows a lot about Blackwatch and what their doing right? Who's in charge and where to find them? That sort of thing?"

The short red head hesitated, speaking slowly when she responded. "Yes. Is that important? I mean, I'm sure if there was something you wanted to know..."

"So where is your dad right now?" James had no intention of consuming the man, unless he was exceptionally uncooperative of course, but he did want to know where this potential source of information was.

"Ah, well, I don't really know. Not right now. He calls me. He says it's not good if we're in the same place for a long time so..." The already nervous girl started mumbling halfway through her answer, trying even harder not to look at Heller.

James was about to question her further when he noticed her wandering eyes snap wide open and lock onto something behind him. He spun around to find what had startled the girl, arms flashing into claws as he turned. What he found was a mostly empty street, several passing cars, and now, thanks to his sudden shift, a lot of panicking pedestrians.

Shifting his arms back to normal, James turned back to demand to know what had spooked the girl, only to find her gone. A quick search of the alley revealed nothing, and leaping to the rooftops and scanning the street below only told him that the girl was nowhere in sight.

"Fuck, guess that's one more thing to look into. Maybe Father Guerra knows her dad, hope he'll recognize a description of the kid." After a few seconds thinking about his options James turned and headed for Hamilton Park.

A block away in the opposite direction the girl heaved herself over a fence and dropped to the ground, landing lightly on her feet. Sprinting forward she found her momentum suddenly interrupted by a large hand on her shoulder.

"What's got you in such a big hurry, Miss Salvatore?"

"Omega?" The girl stumbled back a step, more from surprise than anything else. "I was...I mean, I wasn't in a hurry, not really. I was just...um. Well..."

"That was you that tagged Jimmy with a flare a minute ago, wasn't it?"

"Yes. No! I mean, I did but..."

"You're not in trouble, calm down. Your dad know you're chatting with homicidal nut-jobs?" The eight foot super soldier grinned behind his mask.

"I wasn't just..." The redhead took a deep breath and continued. "Vaughn and his men are doing another raid but Blackwatch stepped up security, they'll get torn apart if they try now. I thought I could get Heller to help them, dad would go ballistic if I tried to do it myself."

"So you sent a maniac to their rescue? Sure you thought that one through kiddo?"

"He's not a monster, Omega. He's just a little messed up. He's human, that's all."

"You're too good for all this, you know that kid?" Omega shook his head before leaping into the air, leaving the flustered girl behind. _Hope Heller can keep the body count to a minimum today._

* * *

**Three Minutes Later/ Hamilton Park**

Heller landed on the roof of a four story building overlooking the park, the marines below were busy in a conversation of some sort, he didn't bother to listen in for long before jumping down.

"So Vaughn, how's the farm doing?" Asked one of them to another.

"Well, last time I checked, the mortgage company was still hounding my parents for that five grand. Haven't been able to make a call out of the fucking city since I got here though. You know how it is Nate. If I even try, those Black Watch Gestapo rejects to will be on me like republicans on a new health care bill." Said Vaughn.

"Man, shut the fuck up about the republicans man. Ever since we got here, it's been nothing but politics with your corn fed ass." Said another one.

"Yeah, well, who the fuck do you think is responsible for all this Marcus? The Democrats?" Said Nate.

"Yeah." Interjected another. "They don't even have a concrete plan for anything, let alone the shit that's going on in this town."

"Shut-up Amberry!" Said Vaughn.

"When you do first about politics Hampton." Said Amberry. "I'm all for trying to find something to keep our minds off of the shit we've seen down here, but politics isn't exactly sane to begin with, so I don't think talking about it is helping things much."

"Oh, and talking about killing all the people responsible for this _is_, Glen?" Asked Nate.

"Yeah. Because unlike politics, we, _the people_, can actually do something about it."

Before the debate on the merits of their preferred discussion topics could continue, the man sent to observe Blackwatch's security returned. Bad news from his expression.

"Not liking that look man." Vaughn groaned as he listened to the report.

"Double normal squad patrols on site. Three men in each group. Five snipers I could spot. Looks like all the windows are barred or boarded, couldn't get close enough to check sir, but I'd bet they've all got alarms rigged to em. Stationary sentries are in pairs and there's six more than usual." The man didn't salute or stand at attention while giving his report. It was pretty obvious he wanted to though.

"No way we're getting passed that without those assholes crawling all over us. Forget the run Vaughn?" Nate said, giving his superior a sideways glance.

"Can't do that Nate. People dying out here because those bastards are giving everyone crap for food and you know as well as I do that shit they hand out isn't really medicine."

The conversation was violently interrupted by a dense mass of organic matter dropping from the sky and landing amongst the Marines. James nearly started slitting throats when he found several silencer equipped firearms pointed at him, then he remembered why he was there and restrained the impulse to murder everything around him.

"Drop the fucking guns and you get to live."

The Marines, upon realizing who their visitor was, tightened their grips on the weapons and most prepared to fire. Vaughn motioned the others to hold fire and addressed the uninvited mutant.

"Sergeant James Heller, Infected, on Blackwatch's kill on sight list right after Mercer. What the hell are you doing here?"

"So you're in charge of this fucking party?"

"Lieutenant Vaughn Hampton. Marines."

"Well ain't that fucking nice. So what's got a Lieutenant sneaking around behind Blackwatch's back? You not getting paid enough?"

"We're trying to help people, asshole." Arnett snapped. He was just short of pulling the trigger.

"Nate, you lower that gun. We don't need anyone doing something stupid." Vaughn glared at his fellow Marine until he lowered the weapon. All the others did the same. "Okay, we know you've got no love for those Nazi wannabes so don't matter if you know what we're doing. So, why's the second most wanted man in New York over here in the park? Enjoying the scenery?"

"Heard some idiots were planning to attack Blackwatch and steal some of their shit. Thought it'd be worth looking into."

"And where'd you hear that?" Vaughn didn't need to look around to know that he wasn't the only one tensing up again.

"Some kid. Didn't get her name."

James was a bit surprised at the round of groans from the Marines. He wasn't complaining that they'd all seemed to forget they were suspicious of him though.

Marcus spoke up, rubbing his forehead as he did. "Kinda short? Red hair? Dark red coat?"

"What about it?"

"Yeah, that's Magda." All the Marines nodded in agreement with Ingram's statement.

"That girls gonna get herself killed one of these days."

"Just won't listen to anyone and wherever her old man is, he obviously doesn't care much."

James growled in frustration and interrupted the men. "What's with this kid? Saw her attack some Blackwatch fuckers the other day. She do that often? And what's it to any of you? Related?"

"She's a good kid, but she thinks she can run around playing hero or something. She runs around the Yellow Zone helping people however she can. Won't listen when anyone with sense tells her to back off and stay out of sight." Vaughn explained.

"Says her dad's trying to help people but she won't say where he is, and if the guy just lets his kid wander around out in this shit hole, I doubt he's anything like she claims." Marcus seemed to realize than who they were talking to and tensed up, the same seemed to occur to the other Marines as well.

"Okay, forget Magda. Nothing we can do about her; kid's a god damn ninja. If she told you about this, I'd bet my folks farm she asked you to help us, right?" Vaughn finished with a sigh.

"Maybe she did. I'm not in the mood to waste my time so if I help you play Robin Hood, what do I get out of it?"

"You've been going after Blackwatch Officers. I've read the report and I know what you can do. You want info? Bastard in charge of the supply depots is one of the higher ranking assholes in the Yellow Zone." Vaughn paused to make sure he had James' attention. "There's a patrol passing near there soon. You attack them, draw some of the extra security away, we should be able to get in and get what we need, and while we're at it, we might be able to get you the base commander."

"Whoa! Hampton, are you cracked? We can't shanghai a fucking Blackwatch Commander!" Arnett nearly shouted. In the subdued atmosphere of the Yellow Zone he could have whispered and it would have been noticed.

"Keep your voice down you moron!" The Lieutenant hissed. "Look, Heller can rip those fuckers apart and keep their attention off the base. We go in, knock out the commander, and take him with us when we leave. We meet up later and hand the bastard over. Fair trade, yeah?" The last was spoken to James.

"You think this guy knows something I couldn't get from some other fucker?"

"He's not some random thug on the street, he may not be briefed on what the higher ups are fucking around with but he'll know more than any of the mooks you could find wandering around on patrols."

James considered just leaving but decided it was best to take the chance and hope it was worth it. "Alright, I'll play along. So I just gotta go kick some ass and keep those fuckers worrying about me for a bit right?"

"Right. You keep them occupied and we shouldn't have too much trouble getting what we need and grabbing the commander while we're at it. If you can knock a few holes in the building, accidentally of course, it'd help us get done faster." Vaughn held out his hand. "Deal?"

Heller crossed his arms, scowling at the Marine. "I'll fuck up the patrol but you better get the guy and he better fucking know something worth the trouble. When you want me to hit these fuckers?"

* * *

**Four Minutes Later: Manila Avenue Tenth Street Intersection.**

James glared down at the tank and the APC behind it, in front of the two armored vehicles was a single truck transporting ten Blackwatch goons with another identical truck behind the APC. The mutant soldier made his decision and leapt down to his target.

The men in the rear truck panicked the moment something they didn't bother to identify landed amongst them. One of the dead men managed to fire a shot before anyone was sure what was happening. Being armed with a rocket launcher, this single shot ended the lives of his squad and destroyed the truck. James hit the ground and rolled, cursing the moron who had fired the explosive and whoever had given him permission to use it in the first place.

"Fucking dumbasses probably don't even know which way they're supposed to point the damn things!" James got to his feet just in time to narrowly avoid a shot from the tank, the stray round scrapped a parked car down the street.

Heller growled and leapt to his right, using the APC as cover from the tank. It only took a few seconds to find the wayward rocket launcher he had just been complaining about. James jumped on top of the APC as its driver and the tank's tried to maneuver their vehicles to get clear shots at him.

The operator of the tank's gun saw him and fired. The infected man leapt away again, causing the shot to hit the APC, nearly crippling it. A rocket caught the tank right where the cannon was connected to the vehicle. The damage was severe but wouldn't prevent the gun from firing again.

One of the soldiers in the front truck of the patrol group took the time to call a strike team while his squad was scrambling out of the vehicle and firing wildly at the mobile target.

"I repeat: James Heller attacking Yellow Zone Patrol Four-Three. Requesting a Strike Team immediately!" The man sighed in relief when his request was acknowledged. Seconds later, he was blown apart by a rocket that didn't quite reach its intended target.

James heard the approaching gunship duo and hurriedly sought out more rockets for his salvaged weapon before leaping onto a wall and making his way to the rooftops. The pair were coming from the south, rather than from the roof of the two floor building Blackwatch had re-purposed. The makeshift helipads on that building were still occupied but it looked like they would be vacated soon.

The Strike Team gunships opened fire before James had time to survey the activity in the base further. He managed to avoid the first missile completely but was caught in the explosion of the second. His own return shot flew wide and missed both aircraft.

James saw one of the two gunships on the roof of the base lifting off and took the chance to 'miss' as it sped forward to join the other two that were still firing on him. The rocket narrowly missed the vehicle and blew a hole in the building. A second shot 'missed' and blew open the wall Blackwatch had set up to prevent civilians from approaching the structure.

The anger prone soldier dropped to the ground to avoid further damage to the building he had been on and sprinted across the street, hitting one of the pursuing craft which crashed to the ground before going up like a Fourth of July firework.

Impractically taking cover behind one of the gas stations near the base, James fired again at one of the three still airborne gunships. He was alerted to another threat in the form of a rocket flying past his face as he leaned back to reload his own weapon. Hastily finishing his reload, James fired at the offending Blackwatch soldier. The shot missed when the man threw himself to the ground.

The stray rocket struck one of the gas pumps of another station and blew the whole thing sky high. Thick smoke began obscuring the area as the station burned, providing cover for James and the renegade Marines who were waiting nearby.

"Damn, wish I'd planned that." James grinned to himself before a bullet tore into his shoulder, reminding him that he was still in a battle.

Omega watched the station go up and sighed. "This guy's a freakin' disaster. Hope no civilians were in there. Bet he didn't even mean to do that."

Dodging fire from infantry and the gunships, James leapt to the roof of the base and continued to fire until he ran out of rockets. Once his ammunition was expended, the last rocket _intentionally detonating_ another of the gas stations, the former Marine headed North and dropped down to street level.

A car, much to the surprise of a gunship pilot, brought down one of the two remaining aircraft. Another civilian vehicle was thrown but missed its mark. James spent the next three minutes dodging fire from ground forces, taking out the gunship in the first minute with another salvaged rocket launcher.

Once most of the base's security was occupied trying to kill Heller, Vaughn lead his squad, under the cover of smoke from the destroyed gas stations, into the base through the holes James had made in the south walls.

James consumed his fifth Blackwatch soldier of the battle just before his phone rang: the signal that the Marines were done and pulling out. At least he hoped it was the signal anyway. He'd told Guerra not to call for a while unless it was extremely important.

Acting by the plan, James rushed toward the base and jumped, crashing through a second floor window. The shapeshifter tore his way through the base, killing everything he encountered that was wearing black, and making sure to leave enough damage in his path to obscure the fact that someone else had already been to the commander's office.

Omega rolled his eyes when a second floor window and the surrounding wall was blown off the building. He snorted when James leapt through the hole and actually posed upon landing. As the base fell into further disarray, the super soldier tracked the infected man through the smoke and back to Hamilton Park.

As planned, James found Hampton and Arnett under the cover of the trees in the southwest corner of the park. With them was an unconscious man in Blackwatch uniform.

"I wasn't expecting that much property damage, but you got the job done." Vaughn rolled the tied up body closer to James. "Here's your guy. Asshole was _hiding when_ we found him."

"He better know something-"

"Worth your trouble, yeah. You already said that." Nate interrupted impatiently. "Just get it over with so we can get out of here."

James glared at the Marine, but knelt down and lifted the unconscious man off the ground without responding. Tendrils separated from the sleeves of his jacket and quickly began making their way through the victim. In less than two seconds, only three men were there under the trees, a small pool of blood the only indicator that another had been present.

It was still jarring to watch things through another person's eyes and hear their voice as though it was your own.

"_Okay you bunch of psychos, listen up!"_ James watched the men his latest victim had addressed shuffle impatiently in a briefing room somewhere. "_Your squad is being rotated into the Red Zone tomorrow. That means you've got some basic info to learn. If you fuckers want to live a bit longer, you'd better clean out your ears and listen. All yours egghead."_

"_Yes, _thank you _Lieutenant."_ The scientist addressed as 'Egghead' glared sideways at the now dead man. "_If you'll all direct your attention to the screen."_

A large screen lit up. On it was a paused video of a large hairless creature James thought may be a mutated Brawler. "_Fuck! That look's like Mathison's grandma!"_

Once a fight was averted and the soldiers had stopped laughing the scientist continued.

"_As I was saying, this is an Infected creature known commonly as a Hunter. They were first sighted on the third day of the First Outbreak last year. You have all been briefed, I believe, on Brawlers even if you haven't seen one first hand. Hunters are in some ways worse."_

The video began playing, showing the Hunter tearing apart a tank in less than a minute before pausing again.

"_Hunters were notably more durable and much stronger than the Brawlers you have already been warned about."_

"_You said those ugly fuckers were from last year. Why bother worrying about em' now?"_

Another file was opened on the screen, showing something with an identical body structure to the pink skinned Hunter. This creature was black and reminded James of a bug or lizard of some kind.

"_This is why. Again, they appeared on the third day of the outbreak. This creature is being simply referred to as an Armored Hunter, for obvious reasons."_

The video clip began playing. The black armored animal didn't even appear to feel the bullets Blackwatch troops were firing at it and didn't even flinch when a rocket hit it solidly in the face. The video paused again.

"_This new species of Hunter is confirmed to be at least twice as durable as their predecessors. They have been reported moving fast enough to outpace gunships and appear to be twice as strong as the originals."_The scientist appeared amused with his next words.

"_You are being specifically briefed on these creatures because it seems they view Suicide Division soldiers as something of a delicacy. They will ignore Marines entirely but go out of their way to hunt down men in your particular sort of uniform."_

The video played for another minute, showing a pair of these new Hunters tearing apart two squads of Blackwatch soldiers. The Marine cameraman was left miraculously unharmed.

"_They have only been reported in pairs so far. If you see one, it means the other is likely behind you. You are advised to call in a Strike Team if you encounter these Infected. Interestingly, it has been reported that these Hunters will attack and kill Brawlers on sight as well. If you see the two species engaged, it would be in your best interest to let them fight and quietly call for heavy support."_

"_What the fuck's with their eyes?"_One of the thugs in uniform shouted from the back of the room. James didn't bother to remember the man's name or face.

"_Hm? Ah, yes, that. We aren't certain. Other Infected do not exhibit that trait. Near as we can tell it is some kind of mutation that displays their present state of mind. Yellow is clearly some kind of sign that they are agitated and red indicates anger and violence, as demonstrated in the video. Green it seems is their normal state. Whether the pigment change in their eyes is an intentional trait bred into them by Mercer or not, we can't say."_

"_So they've got 'mood eyes?' Sounds kinda retarded if you ask me."_

"_I didn't. And while I do personally think it an odd trait, I advise you take advantage of it given the chance. Now, the armored plates covering these creatures bodies repel all standard ammunition used in infantry weapons. Grenades and rockets should be your weapons of choice if you must engage these beasts."_

"_What about capture methods doc? We're supposed to try to bring in these freaks if we can, right?"_

"_No. You know the procedures for dealing with Brawlers and Juggernauts, but there are none for these Hunters. Several attempts to capture a live specimen have been made, all ending disastrously. Reports further suggest it is not possible to recover the body of one of these either as they decay rapidly and release a toxic gas upon death. It seems Mercer doesn't want them compromised."_

James got to his feet five seconds after consuming the man. After that briefing, the victim had mostly just gone about normal business until the raid that day.

"Can't use any of that now, but at least I know what to look out for in the Red Zone." Heller mumbled while rubbing his temples. "What the fuck's a Juggernaut?"

The image of an extremely fat creature with deformed fists flashed through his mind. "Okay, that fucker's not winning any beauty contests."

"What are you talking about?" Nate tilted his head to the left, giving James a confused look.

"Nothing. Asshole didn't know anything I can use now but it's good to have some idea what's out there...Thanks." James turned and jumped out of the park.

* * *

**Three Minutes Later/Rooftops.**

"That's all the bastard knew about what's going on around here." James concluded his retelling of his latest victim's relevant knowledge. Guerra acknowledged the information with a thoughtful grunt. "You heard anything about those Hunter things before?"

"No. I knew that there were creatures called that during the outbreak last year but I thought those Brawler things replaced them. To think there's something worse than those monsters."

"Don't forget those Juggernaut things. Fat fuckers smash up tanks easy from what that asshole knew."

"And exactly how did you end up helping those soldiers that got you access to this man?"

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to ask you about that. Some girl, Vaughn and his men said her names Magda, runs around the Yellow Zone getting people food and clothes and shit. Saw her yesterday to. She jumped some Blackwatch fuckers, killed one of them by accident. You know anything about her? Said her dad knows a lot about what Blackwatch is up to."

"Ah yes, I know her. Magda Salvatore. She helped out here at the church for a while after the quarantine went into effect."

"Her dad ever show up? She said he's the one that told her who I am."

"No, at least if he was here I never knew who he was. She mentioned him a few times, telling people he was going to fix this somehow."

"She ever say where her dad's hiding out?"

"No, she never mentioned where he was that I heard. When we ran out of supplies to help those that needed it and Blackwatch refused to give us anything else she stopped showing up and I haven't seen her since. I have heard from people that she's been going around finding out what some people need and then shows up later with exactly that."

"Think she's getting it from Blackwatch supplies?"

"Perhaps. She would need help of course. I have heard that there is a rather large man in an unusual uniform that has been seen around when she's delivering things to people."

"Anyone know who he is? He might know where her dad is. Hell, he might _be_her dad. If he knows what's going on I need to find him."

"I don't think anyone knows him. He never talks to anyone and if a patrol shows up he disappears. I'll see if I can find out more about him. Oh, I almost forgot: that delivery you asked me to look into was a number of Walkers captured in the Red Zone. I couldn't find out exactly what's being done with them but it may be worth looking into. If you do go, avoid the viral detectors around the base. They'll know you're infected if you get close."

"Got it, I'll be careful."

* * *

**Manhattan Island/Red Zone/Undisclosed Location.**

"Shit." Dana reread the report she had found before sitting back in her chair. "Damn it! They couldn't just leave it alone!"

The aspiring journalist cut her connection to Blacknet and left the room. Finding her temporary roommate in the makeshift lab wasn't a surprise.

"Hey, Alex didn't leave his phone here again, did he?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it. What's wrong?"

"I just found out they're bringing in a couple specialists to examine the bodies they got from Heller's place."

"Dana, that's not really an emergency." The other woman leaned back and stretched. "How long have I been sitting here?"

"You're supposed to be smart. If they find out what Alex did who knows what they'll do."

"If they find out, so what? I know why he did it and it barely makes sense. Worst case scenario: they think it's part of some plan to spread the virus, and since they already think that about everything he does, it doesn't change anything. If you're that worried though, just call Alex and tell him. He'll tell you the same thing I did."

"But I don't know if he has his phone! I swear he leaves it here on purpose." Dana groaned and extracted her phone from her jacket, dialing her wayward 'sibling's' number. A ringing sounded from the 'living room.' "Fuck."

* * *

**Unknown Location/Unknown Zone.**

"Hello?"

"_Messiah, hi. Sorry, I don't have time to chat."_

"Guessed it was important, you used the Codename."

"_Oh, right. Look, I need to talk to Alex but he left his phone here again. Could you tell him to get back here or I'll kick his ass?"_

"Those exact words? I don't think that threat will have much impact."

"_Could you at least use your own voice on the phone? It's kind of confusing hearing someone else."_

"Sorry." Messiah's voice became more high pitched. "I'll tell him you need to talk to him. What's going on?"

"_Nothing you need to worry about. Just, you know, do what you do."_

"Alright, bye." Messiah slipped the phone into a pocket and took a deep breath. Sclera and irises turned black, pupils vanishing into the darkness. _Zeus? Yeah, sorry. -I can't, you left your phone at Dana's. -No, she wanted me to tell you to go over there. She said if you didn't go now she'd kick your butt. -No I don't think it's about the phone. She didn't say why but she sounded worried about something. -Okay, I'll see you later? -Alright, bye._

The shapeshifter gasped as their eyes returned to normal. "I'll never get used to that. The Hive isn't even that big, but it's so loud." The changeling turned to the six creatures behind it. The large, cat-like monsters just stared back. "Of course you have no problems with it."

* * *

**Return of the Notes:**

**Omega. Real Name: Classified. Occupation: Super Soldier. Family: Classified. Threat Level: Four.**

**Magda Salvatore. Occupation: Reckless Teenager With a Heart of Gold. Known Family: Father. Threat Level: Two. Notable Actions: Shot James in the head with a flare gun, in her defense, she didn't know his phone number. Has been described as a "god damn ninja."  
**

**Armored Hunters: Threat Level: High Four to Low Five.  
**

**Stalkers: Threat Level: Three to Four. Full Capabilities Unknown(By Blackwatch).  
**

**Codename: Messiah. Threat Level: ?**

* * *

**Semi-Important Note(Maybe): The way Alex, James, and others regenerate is changed somewhat in my little world. I can best explain this in a game mechanics fashion.  
**

**It works like this: Alex has his life bar as it was from the end of the first game, the Critical Mass segment is now a part of the normal life bar and colored red accordingly. Under this he has three smaller bars, like the Mass Meter from P2 when fully upgraded, this is the Regeneration Meter and it represents the potential times Alex's cells can divide. Each segment is equal to one full life bar, the Regeneration Meter also fulfills the original function of the Critical Mass portion of the life bar. As Alex takes damage the Regeneration Meter drains to refill his active life bar, as long as the meter isn't empty Alex can still regenerate without consuming.  
**

**James, currently, has his life bar as it was at the start of P2. His Regeneration Meter is half the length of the life bar, as his life bar grows so does his Regeneration Meter. In the end it will be half the length of his fully upgraded life bar, allowing him to heal half a life bars worth without consuming.  
**

**Due to the year between events, Alex has upgraded somewhat. His Active Life Bar in this story is three times his fully upgraded life bar from the first game, it appears as three bars layered over each other; the highest health level is green, under that bar is yellow, and the last is red. Combined with the Regeneration Meter segments this gives Alex six of his endgame life bars.  
**

**The Regeneration Meter is filled when a human or other creature is consumed, the youngest cells of the victim contribute to this while the older cells go straight to the active life bar. A life bar rapidly recovers, even in combat, as long as the Regeneration Meter isn't empty. When Heller uses the Tendril Power it drains a bit from his Regeneration Meter, Alex has powers that do the same.  
**


	5. Chapter 5: The Plot Thickens

**I own next to nothing related to this story, certainly not Prototype. Just A few OCs.  
**

**Feel Free to Skip The Notes if you want, there's a lot of them.**

* * *

**Notes: **Evolved are not Runners, Omega just won't call them Evolved. They are not like Alex either, neither is James. They are still alive, enhanced by the virus like a super soldier but with variations of Alex's powers.

Guest Review: Tactical Vision? Elaborate? Yes, they have blades in P2, but getting close enough to use those would be a horrible idea for a normal human.

Guest Review: Yes, Blacklight is deadlier in viral form than Redlight because it mutates hosts too fast and too extremely for them to survive, even faster than Redlight. I didn't say Hunters were better, just that they were in some ways more dangerous. Brawlers are extremely predictable and easy to read, Hunters attack wildly and randomly.

Guest Review: No, I can't do that, and I can't really say why I can't either. Sorry. The events that led to the outbreak and exactly what happened will be revealed later in the story though.

**Fun Facts: IFV: Infantry Fighting Vehicle, is what the APCs in-game should be called.**

**Character/World Notes: After more research and review of certain facts, I have made a few changes.**

Gilda's height has been changed from solid six feet to six feet seven inches.

Magda is four feet six inches tall.

The Yellow and Green Zones in this story occupy Real World Jersey City and Brooklyn respectively. The Manhattan in this world is a combination of Real World Manhattan and Game World Manhattan; it is full sized and has all the major landmarks and streets, the area around Battery Park is the same as it is in Game World rather than it's real world counterpart.

**Sano Hibiki: I will attempt to address your questions.**

Upgrading: I have played through Prototype several times from a clean New Game start, each time I have completed the game fully upgraded and with an excess of Experience/Evolution Points left over. However those points would translate outside of game mechanics, I am sure they could be used later to upgrade further. Also, most everything Alex does earns those points in-game, so I doubt he'd stop earning them afterwards. (Flying the nuke out over the ocean and then surviving the blast(As a blob of slime) was pretty dangerous and difficult I would think, so imagine how many points he'd get for that.)

Ex/Ep Orbs: I don't know what they are outside of game mechanics. I would assume they are indeed supposed to represent bits and pieces of flesh and other organic substances Alex could acquire usable DNA from.

Messiah: Not Pariah, but related.

Appearance Of Active Powers: For Alex, Whip Fist and Hammer Fists look mostly the same as they did in Prototype. The actual blades on Claws and...Blade, look the same as they did originally, but his arms are solid and less randomly spiky without the gaping holes in the forearms and shoulders, basically Armor Form arms with the claws or blade on the them. Alex does not glow unless it's intentional generation of bio-luminescent light from his eyes for scare tactics or something like that, or if he's charging a Crimson Shockwave.

Heller's powers look the same as they did in P2, partly because he's new to shapeshifting and partly because he subconsciously wants to look as creepy as he can. James still has the red, bio-luminescent glow on his weapons but he doesn't just randomly flare red like he did in-game. The red flash from when he starts gliding also doesn't happen here. The Evolved' weapons look the same as they did in P2.

Blackwatch: I am aware that they aren't "LULZ EVULZ" morons as they were portrayed in P2. So far only a few actual Blackwatch soldiers and officers have been shown, James has been fighting Suicide Division goons. Yes, Blackwatch has full authority over everything happening in and around New York during the outbreak, that doesn't mean that all the Marines are going to brainlessly follow orders and ignore the people suffering around them.

The Stormtrooper look-alikes present in this story are part of a special group set up after the events of the first game, they are Death Row inmates that Blackwatch screened to make sure they were every bit as vile as the "Soldiers" shown in P2. They were removed from prison and given the option of dying on the spot or playing the role of collective meat shield for the real Blackwatch soldiers.

Bloodtox: Alex is immune to it. Blackwatch has had GENTEK tweaking the formula to keep up with the new strains of the virus, they don't know that Alex is still immune to the new stuff though.

Smart/Less Brainless Infected: I already have a list of new Infected that will be showing up and some of them are actually capable of serious, though not quite sapient, thought.

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

**Manhattan Island/Red Zone/Undisclosed Location.**

"She's right, Dana. It doesn't matter if they know now. No one can do anything about it. Not even him." Alex picked up his phone and slipped it into his jacket. He didn't want Dana mad about it later.

"See. I told you he'd say the same thing."

"No one asked you." Dana snapped at her roommate and turned back to Alex. "Alex, are you sure this isn't going to cause more problems?"

"No. It's unlikely, but-" Alex shoved his hands in his pockets and walked to the door. "I can't be sure. There are too many things to consider. If I could predict everything, none of this would even be happening. Don't worry though, you're safe here. Hunters are patrolling most of southern Manhattan and I can deal with the consequences myself, whatever they are."

Before anything more was said, Alex slipped out the door and was gone. Dana didn't even bother shouting after him. It took three seconds to extract her phone and dial his number. After a minute, she was still waiting.

"Dana, I don't think he's going to answer it."

A string of incomprehensible swearing followed, cut off only when the perpetrator slammed her door shut on her way back to her computer.

**Two Minutes Later: Manhattan Island/Red Zone/Columbus Park**

Alex kicked the broken shell of a tank across the empty space, not even caring how much damage it did or how many Walkers were crushed by the speeding slab of steel. One of the more heavily mutated Walkers wandered close to him, only to be reduced to bloody chunks of flesh by the seething monster.

"What if she's right? No. Even if she is, I didn't have a choice_._" Alex mumbled to himself. _There wasn't time. I couldn't have done anything else._

**Jersey City/Yellow Zone/Research Base Three-One**

On the suggestion of Father Guerra, James had done everything in his power to enter the base without being seen. It had been difficult to avoid the pair of viral detectors and resist the urge to slaughter every Blackwatch soldier he saw, but he had successfully consumed someone who knew the code to enter the building and was now within the re-purposed structure.

_Okay, now where the fuck do I go?_ The thought prompted a flash of memory from his latest victim that spelled out where the Walkers were taken and that said victim had clearance to enter the area. _Fuck yes._

The number of soldiers in the building was surprisingly low and the scientists seemed to do their best to avoid him or, more accurately, they were avoiding the deceased sergeant he was wearing like a suit. Even ignoring most of the man's memories, James could tell that the GENTEK researchers almost unanimously hated the Blackwatch troops they were forced to work with.

While there were few soldiers inside the building compared to what he had expected, James still had some difficulty reaching his destination. Several miniature viral detectors in the halls forced him to take multiple detours before he could find the improvised labs.

The area was separated into several smaller rooms, each possessing different equipment within as well as people in hazardous materials suits performing different activities. None of what they were doing meant anything to James or the people he had consumed. The only thing he had a complete grasp on at a glance was the room where several dead Walkers were being dissected.

The last room held live Walkers strapped to medical tables and hooked up to various machines he didn't know much about other than their main functions while scientists milled about, examining the hissing, groaning, thrashing mutants. Some of the scientists examined the information displayed by the machines instead rather than looking at their guinea pigs for the day themselves.

Near the back of the room, James noticed a Walker that wasn't currently the subject of any particular observation and a person in hazmat gear calmly adjusting some of the straps holding the creature down. This researcher glanced around for a second before pulling a syringe out of a compartment attached to all of their suits. This got James attention.

The suspicious scientist forcibly turned the Walkers head to the side and stuck the needle into the back of the Infected being's neck, emptying whatever the implement contained into the restrained body.

After several seconds, the Walker stopped struggling against its bonds and was, briefly, still. Then the creature began screaming and wailing as it struggled more fiercely than before in an effort to free itself. Every eye in the room, and those in the observation area with James, turned to the suddenly berserk zombie.

The normally erratic and occasionally non-existent vital signs of the Walker were quickly rising. James was fairly certain that four-hundred beats per minute and rising wasn't a normal, or safe, heart rate for a human body, abomination or not (probably). The scientists were shouting back and forth at each other, one mentioning that the Walker was hyperventilating and another distractedly taking note of a sudden spike in brainwave activity.

Quite suddenly, the body on the table bloated, straining against the straps holding it down, before just as suddenly exploding. Well...popping really. Like a balloon stuffed with ketchup and freshly ground beef.

_Glad I didn't eat breakfast._

"What the hell happened!?" The man who appeared to be in charge of the team shouted at the scientist who had apparently been the cause of the little show.

"I don't know. I was checking the restraints and the thing just...I don't know! First it calmed down like it was asleep and then it went crazy. I've-I didn't even know they could, um, pop like that, sir."

"Just get out of here! I don't want you around any live subjects again, do you understand!?"

"But sir-"

"Out! Now!"

"Yes sir."

James watched the increasingly suspicious man leave the room and quickly began tracking him. He found the scientist coming out of an airlock of sorts, having just stood under a vent of concentrated Bloodtox before leaving the 'Red Ward.'

The scientist walked over to a rack and began removing the hazmat suit, placing it on one of the empty stands reserved for the equipment. James quietly crept up behind the man. It was only the two of them in the room, and just as the suspicious one finished placing the boots under the rest of the outfit, Heller lunged forward and clasped his arms around...empty air.

A split second review of the event told James that his target had ducked almost immediately when his arms began to fold into his target's periphery vision. The soldier glanced down, just in time to see his not so helpless victim spring backwards straight into his chest.

The unexpected counter-attack carried them both across the room and slammed James into the wall, knocking the air from his lungs and leaving a respectable crater at the point of impact.

The perpetrator of the backwards tackle stepped forward and turned halfway around before driving a solid side kick into James' gut, again knocking the wind out of him and increasing the size of the crater in the wall.

As he fell to his knees, gasping for breath, James heard a quickly spoken "Sorry about that" from the 'scientist' who had apparently just left the room. The Marine stumbled to his feet and into the hall. No matter where he looked he saw no sign of his escaped target.

"What the fuck just happened?" A pair of researchers several feet to his left glanced at him and, upon seeing a Suicide Division sergeant apparently in pain, promptly began studiously ignoring him half a second later.

**Top of the Goldman Sachs Tower/Jersey City/Yellow Zone**

"Then the bastard just took off. Think the fucker broke a few ribs with that stunt." James groaned, remembering how sore his chest had briefly been after his unusual encounter.

"_That is strange. Just what happened to the Infected as well as this person who escaped you. Did Mercer say there were others like you? Did he infect anyone else?"_

"Didn't say he did, but I trust that fucking bastard about as far as I can throw him."

"_Well, I suppose you'll have to run into this person again eventually if he or she is working for Mercer. Until then, I don't think there is anything we can do about it. In the meantime, I found a report on Blacknet. It said there's a Lair, an infected nest of sorts, in Ninth Street Park. It shouldn't be hard to find: Blackwatch has the area surrounded from the sounds of it."_

"Alright, I'll go check it out. Could you poke around? See if Blackwatch knows anything about more people like me or Mercer or that fucker back at Three-One?"

"_I doubt they know, but I will look."_

**Undisclosed Location/Unknown Zone.**

"Zeus?"

"_Yes?"_

"Still have your phone then. I half expected Dana to answer it."

"_I don't plan on making her more upset than she already is."_

"You mean that thing that's nothing I need to worry about?"

"_Did it work?"_

"Changing the subject isn't really fair but...no. It...well...it sort of worked, at first. The Walker calmed down after I injected it, it's vitals started stabilizing, but then it sort of went berserk. It bloated up after a minute like old roadkill and...exploded, though I think popped would be more accurate. A bit gross, actually."

"_Alright. Take that strain back to the safe house later and find a way to test the next one for now. We can figure out what went wrong tomorrow."_

"There's something else. I ran into Heller at the base. Don't know why he was there, but I think he was going to try to consume me. I overreacted a bit and nearly put him through a wall."

"_You didn't shift in front of him, did you?"_

"No. I knew it was him, so no blades or anything. I just hit him, twice, and left."

"_He might recognize your weapons later. For now, we have to avoid that just in case. You're going to have to work with him at some point and we don't need him recognizing you unless it can't be helped."_

"Are you okay? You sound...mad?"

"_No, I'm not mad. Dana found something that I need to think about. I'm just a little...distracted."_

"Okay. If you say so." Messiah ended the call and returned the phone to its proper pocket. "So, where to find something to test this one on?"

A fang filled mouth released a low grunt. The Stalker's eyes shifted, going pitch black.

"Okay, that should work. Are there any others in Jersey right now? No? Alright. Call the others back, because we're going for a walk in the park."

**Christopher Columbus Drive/Jersey City/Yellow Zone**

James blinked, double checked the sign on the street corner, and blinked again. "How the fuck did I get here?"

"You need to work on that. You've talked to someone else through the hive already, so you should realize when I'm giving you a destination." A woman behind him said. She had short, thin red hair, pale skin, and was dressed like any other resident of the Yellow Zone.

"Mercer?"

"Yes. Were you meeting someone else here?"

"Why the fuck did you bring me here?"

"I didn't bring you here, I just gave you directions. You're the one that followed them. Doesn't matter though. You're here now, so shut up and listen." Alex pulled a rectangular box from the backpack he was carrying in one hand. "Take this."

"You gonna fucking tell me what's in that?"

"A bomb."

"What?"

"I didn't think that would bother you. Would you prefer we try killing a target by planting boxes of cookies in their car?"

"Why bother with a fucking bomb? I could just-"

"No. There are three targets and they all have to die within a couple of milliseconds at most of each other or otherwise, one might warn the others that they're being targeted. I already have someone else planting one of the bombs, I'll plant the last one, and I need you to plant _this_ one. All three are synchronized to go off at the same time."

James took the box, giving Alex a distrustful glare all the while. "And how the fuck do I know this fucking thing isn't going to blow up while I've still got it?"

"Because you're useless if you're dead. This is your target-" Alex's eyes faded to black.

"Argh! Fucking, damn it!" James swore and rubbed his forehead. "Couldn't you just tell me where the fucker is?"

"Faster this way. Now stop making a scene. People are starting to notice us."

"Alright, I got it. Just stick the box under the fucker's driver's seat?"

"Right."

"You gonna tell me why you want these fuckers dead?"

"They're making things worse. That's all you need to know for now. Just plant the bomb and leave."

"You said someone else has got the other bomb. Who? That fucker that attacked me back a that base?"

Alex froze for a second, not quite glaring at James. "No. Don't get involved with that one."

"Yeah, fine. Who the fuck are you anyway? Why'd you eat that chick?" James asked, continuing when Alex just blinked in response. "The bitch whose skin you're walking in, asshole."

A fist nearly connected with James' face a split second later. Alex stopped himself before he could put the foul mouthed soldier through a building though. James stumbled back, not even thinking of retaliating at first.

Alex lowered his arm and glared at the human. "She was a victim. One of the first victims of the virus and Blackwatch. _They_ took her life. I just...ended her suffering. Just plant the bomb, and get back to your own business."

Before James could respond, Alex sprinted across the street and disappeared into an alley. The idea of pursuing the crime against nature briefly crossed Heller's mind, but he put it aside and decided to deal with the bomb he was currently holding. He didn't know when the bomb would go off, so it was probably best to get rid of it as soon as possible.

**Rooftops/Jersey City/Yellow Zone**

James spotted the car he was supposed to plant the bomb in. He didn't see anyone around, and there were no visible cameras. A quick shift and hop, and a Blackwatch soldier was casually walking across the street toward the parking lot.

_Fucking bastards are even using a school as a military base. Hope this takes out more than one of the fuckers._

Despite the lack of surveillance in the area, James quickly encountered a problem: the car was locked.

"Fuck. Now what?"

_Problem?_

"You're back? Wonderful."

_Do you need help or not? I have other things to do you know._

"Like what?"

_Keeping the Yellow Zone from being overrun for one. Right now I'm supposed to be dealing with a Brawler too. So if you really don't need help-_

"Hey! I could get into this thing no problem! I could-"

_Rip the door off? Wouldn't that tip off the owner that something was, oh I don't know, wrong?_

"Well what can you do? You're not even here."

_You should stop talking out loud. If anyone saw you, they'd get suspicious. Or worse: think you were crazy. Anyway, I can do a lot, even from here...There. Try that._

"What-?" James paused and looked at his hand, nothing had changed but he felt something new. "What the fuck?"

_Just do it._

James groaned and put the palm of his hand over the lock on the car door. An odd tingling followed the use of the minor ability he had been given, and the door unlocked.

"I'm a human lock-pick now?"

_It's just tendrils messing with the inside of the mechanism. Not that difficult. Completely electric locks with passwords are harder to deal with though._

Again, the presence disappeared.

After planting the bomb and retreating to the rooftops across the street, re-locking the door first, James sat down to wait. Whether he trusted Alex or not, he intended to make sure his target died. He had no intention of letting the scumbag prick live anyways.

"You're not still listening in, are you? Well? Fuck. Couldn't just give me a few more useful powers or anything could you? Nope. I get to pick fucking locks. That'll be real fucking useful next time I lose my keys or want to rob a fucking pop machine."

After several minutes of waiting, James noticed a man approaching the sabotaged vehicle. The painful flash of information Alex had shoved into his head told James at a glance that this was the intended target.

The man slid into his seat, not seeming to notice anything wrong, and drove out of the parking lot. James followed the car for several blocks, idly wondering who the man was talking to on the phone and what they were discussing. Just as the car turned north on Erie Street it was consumed by a large ball of fire, everything inside it reduced to chunks and ash in a matter of seconds.

"Damn! Mercer didn't say we were having a barbecue. Shoulda brought some fuckin' hot dogs or marshmallows."

**Ninth Street Park/Yellow Zone/Jersey City**

After telling Guerra about the mission Alex had sent him on, James made his way to his original destination. The park didn't look friendly anymore. Thirty foot high, three foot thick walls had been erected around the entire block. From the roof of another building, James could see a large airtight tent near the center of the park. He could also see a cloud of red fog filling the area.

"More of that shit? Assholes must get fucking high off the junk."

Blackwatch men in pairs patrolled each segment of the wall, though they seemed more focused on what was inside of the area than what was outside. The single gate had a pair of APCs parked on either side of it with a viral detector just within the wall. The building on the same block as the park appeared to have been cleared and was obviously being used as a temporary base.

Getting through the Bloodtox without coughing his guts out would be difficult, not to mention getting into the tent and the Lair from there afterwards. Assuming, of course, he could even get past the wall without sending up an alarm.

"Could just smash my way in, take out the wall and that crap should just leak on out, no problem. Course, they'd probably be shoving a Strike Team up my ass before I could reach the tent." James punched the roof he was crouched on. An idea accompanied by a realization involving what he had seen that bastard back at Three-One do had hit him.

A large truck, stamped with Blackwatch's emblem, was parked nearby. Every once in awhile, someone would enter the vehicle and come out in a hazmat suit, or enter the vehicle in a suit and exit without one. Even the soldiers were apparently required to wear one if they were going into the Lair.

After a shockingly easy bit of stealth to enter the truck, James slipped one of the suits on, carefully ensuring that it was properly sealed from the outside environment. He didn't want to have any Bloodtox seep in and be stuck with it.

Slipping by the Viral Detector at the gate was a bit trickier. It started acting up when he got close and that set the guards on alert. Fortunately, they were so focused on ensuring that a female scientist leaving the area hadn't become infected while in the Lair, that they failed to notice when he edged around them and made his way out of the detector's range.

The Lair itself was easy enough to enter, for a machine had been set up that prevented the viral matter from sealing the hole completely and could be used to pry this organic 'door' open when someone was entering or exiting.

Once inside, James found himself reminded of Manhattan as it was now. The subterranean nest was like something from the nightmares of some over-rated hollywood director obsessed with bodily horror. The walls covered in pulsing growths. Blood staining the ground. The hisses and growls of Infected echoing throughout...It was a lovely little slice of Hell.

"Okay, now what the fuck am I supposed to do down here?"

Gunfire answered the question and drew him into the large central chamber. The scientists were quickly gathering their equipment and samples while soldiers gunned down one Walker after another. The shambling, zombie-like Infected were getting more agitated by the second. Even James could see it.

Then, as things tended to do in the recent history of New York, it got worse. The pulsing masses of bio-matter on the walls and floor began splitting open. Most only contained a few more heavily mutated Walkers but four of them however, were occupied by Brawlers. The larger monsters roared and leapt into the midst of the soldiers, tearing them apart while the scientists ran for the exit.

James grabbed a fallen man's gun and fired on the deformed monsters. He had no desire to protect the Gentek team but then he remembered what he'd gained the last time he'd consumed one of these creatures.

_Maybe they've got something else I can use. No reason not to check._

**Undisclosed Location/Yellow Zone**

"_Alright. Since it had a better result than the other strain, we'll test that one further later. You didn't have any problems did you?"_

Messiah yawned away from the phone before responding. "No, nothing worth mentioning. Oh yeah. Heller was there. If I didn't know better I'd say he's following me. He was going in when I was leaving and the guards got a little jumpy when the detector started reacting, but I got out fine and he got by without trouble."

"_You're tired."_

"Just a little. No problem."

"_Four days is a lot, even for you. You've been active most of that time. You should rest."_

"Oh yeah? I don't remember you sleeping once in the last _month_."

"_That's because I don't need to sleep at all. You do. It doesn't help us if you're exhausted, so sleep tonight on your own or I'll bring you back here and you won't have a choice."_

"Alright, alright. No need for threats. I'll take a nap later, but I still have a few things to take care of first. I swear however that I will get at least eight hours of sleep tonight, okay?"

"_...Okay. Come back tomorrow."_ Alex hung up.

"He worries too much, don't you think?" Messiah grinned at the other occupants of the hideout. The Stalkers just tilted their heads in unison. "...I need sapient roommates."

**Yellow Zone/Jersey City/Apartment Building Overlooking Mercer Street**

Omega ducked into the room and found his undersized surrogate sister packing things into a pair of duffle bags. She cut him off before he could speak.

"You're late."

"It doesn't look like you've been here long either. I had a job to do, so what's your excuse?"

"Traffic. Someone blew up a car on Erie Street. You wouldn't know about that though, right?"

"Not a thing." The super soldier grabbed a larger bag and started carefully placing medical supplies inside it. "So, who's all this stuff going to? Too much here for one of the smaller groups, unless they're all just this side of coffin stuffers."

"Omega, you shouldn't joke about things like that. There really are people here that are suffering that badly."

"Sorry I'm not a saint. I know people here need some help but-"

"-But we can't save everyone. I know. Dad says that to. I wish I could do more than this though."

"You should consider yourself lucky kid. You're actually helping people like this. All I'm good at is breaking, killing, and babysitting things I guess." A low buzzing interrupted the indignant shout from Magda. Omega retrieved his phone and answered it.

"Okay. Yeah. Got it. I'll handle it." The super soldier hung up and got to his feet, grabbing three of the full bags. "I'll deliver these ones now, okay?"

"Alright. They're for the camp between First and Second Street."

"Okay. Sorry I've got to take off again, but, when Almighty Zeus says jump..."

"I know. Oh yeah! You were in Manhattan the other day right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see dad?"

"No, sorry. I was only there a little while before coming back here and I wasn't near the safe house."

"Oh."

"He's fine Magda. He called you this morning didn't he. No emergency or anything right?"

"Yeah. You should go. Don't want to _incur the wrath _of the almighty one, right?"

**Rooftops/Yellow Zone/Jersey City**

"Okay, delivery made. Now, ol' Jimmy is-"

A pair of Gunships flew overhead, heading for Ninth Street Park.

"-Making a mess again. Of course." Omega followed the aircraft the short distance between his previous location and the site of Heller's most recent fit of random violence. "And he managed to set the _fire department_ on fire. Wonderful."

Omega was relieved to see James break contact with the Strike Team moments later, and hurled a smoke grenade into the street to cover his escape. The sooner the shooting stopped the better after all, people in Jersey were dropping daily on their own just fine without stray bullets or missiles speeding things up.

Before he could be spotted, Omega dropped off the roof and out of sight. It was easy enough to relocate James a few moments later and keep track of him from there. The man was, _of course_, reporting his recent activities over the phone. Not the safest method to relay information nowadays, but, beggars can't be picky.

"Yeah. Was like some kinda fucking huge mouth stuck on the wall or something. Fucker ate twenty rockets before it finally died." James shuddered at the memory of the thing he had fought at the heart of the Lair.

"_Did you, ah, you know?" _Asked Father Guerra on the other line.

"No, didn't get the chance, fucking thing died before I even thought about eating it."

"_I had no idea there would be something like that inside the Lair. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a heads up about it James."_

"Don't worry about it _Father_. I'm fine and that things dead, no problem. Got anything else I should look into?"

"_No, I haven't found anything significant. It seems Rooks is still in the Green Zone, so going after him is still impossible. There is another delivery being made, but it's just one truck this time and not heavily guarded. I don't know what it's carrying but it's from the Red Zone. Might be worth looking into."_

"Alright, Father. I'll check that out, I guess. Bye." James hung up and headed off. If it was coming from the Red Zone it had to go through the base around the Holland Tunnel exit and entrance.

Omega quietly tracked the man and hit one of the three speed dial numbers on his phone. "Checking in. Yep. Guerra found out about the truck and told Heller. He's going after it."

"_Make sure he doesn't stop it from reaching the base."_

"Yes sir." The super soldier shut his phone off and changed direction. "Intercepting target...now."

"The Fuck!" James reaction to the more than two-hundred pound super soldier slamming into him just above Coles Street, was understandable this time.

The force of the impact carried the two super-humans a short distance north, James crashing to the ground within a wall enclosed space full of trees. Omega landed heavily several feet from the mildly stunned man.

"Sergeant." Omega gave a short salute. "Codename: Omega. D-Code Class Prototype Super Soldier. Good evening."

"Who the fucking hell are you?" James snarled as he rose to his feet, ignoring the other man's introduction.

"I just told you Jim. Are you having hearing problems? Zeus didn't say that was a possible side-effect of the infection."

"You work for that fucking asshole, Mercer?"

"No, I was obviously talking about the mythological figure."

James paused, in part because he was unsure how to respond and partly because the man in front of him fit the description of Magda's apparent bodyguard.

"You're that guy Guerra said hangs around that Magda girl."

"And you're that walking disaster that keeps starting battles in crowded streets. What's your point?"

"You her dad?"

"Never had kids Jimmy, never planned on it, and I doubt I could now anyways."

"Then why you always fucking hanging around her?"

"I'm nowhere near her right now." Omega pointed out. "Her dad's a friend of mine and asked me to keep an eye on her whenever I could is all."

"So you're just playing babysitter? You know where her father is?"

"Red Zone. You wouldn't last a minute there right now and you're no good to anyone dead, so don't even think about it."

"You think I can't handle it? I was there before I got powers."

"Good for you. I also heard you also used to think before you were infected. Guess that's another side-effect to warn Zeus about: loss of brain cells. Doesn't matter if you do find him though. Magda needs him and it's not hard to guess what you're thinking, so if you set one foot in the Red Zone without Alex saying so, I'll rip you in half whether he wants you alive or not."

"You fucking think you can take me fucker?"

"Like I said: _D-Code_ Super Soldier. Some of the other guys from the project went head to head with Alex last year. They may have died, but Alex himself said the bastards put up one hell of a fight. So, you better ask yourself: if Zeus says I'm just as tough as them, do you really think you've got a chance?"

James, forgetting his original objective completely, lunged forward and swung his right arm in what may have been a right hook, albeit a sloppy one.

Omega shifted his left leg back and reached out, placing his hand on James' elbow and pushing his arm further than the infected soldier had intended his attack to go. James stumbled slightly before reversing his momentum and attempting something similar to an uppercut. Omega leaned back again and repeated his previous trick.

"Hold still you bastard!"

"I'm twice your size Heller. It's...kinda sad that you can't hit me to be honest." Omega deflected another sloppy punch, spinning James completely around. The following movement from the super soldier introduced his enraged opponent to the ground, courtesy of a well executed suplex.

As he rose back to a full standing position, Omega grabbed James' ankles and flipped him forward again, slamming him to the ground and creating a small crater by doing so. Before the thoroughly stunned and angered man could recover from either of his recent meetings with Terra firma, Omega hoisted him into the air a third time, releasing his hold on Heller's legs before twisting slightly to deliver a solid side kick to the man's stomach.

Three trees, and possibly James' ego, splintered and crashed to the ground before the stunned Marine lost momentum and skidded to a stop.

"Fucking bastard." James growled out while throwing several fallen branches off himself. He got to his feet and shifted his arms to claws. "Okay asshole! It is fucking on!"

"You say something Jim?" Omega asked, holding his phone away from his ear.

"Don't you fucking mess with me!" James screamed and leapt into the air, intending to pounce on the eight foot tall man.

"Just a minute boss." Omega slipped his phone into its slot on his vest and took two quick steps forward.

James blinked in surprise as he began passing over his target. Omega slammed his right fist straight up into the shapeshifter's stomach, eliciting a pained shout from the airborne man.

"I was in the middle of an important phone call James. You were asking for that."

Heller crashed to the ground again, coughing and mumbling vague curses at the super soldier.

Omega pulled his phone back out, ignoring James as he got back to his feet. "What was that about the delivery? James distracted me for a minute. Oh, it reached the base? That was quick. Guess traffic was light. Okay then. Anything else or do I have some free time? Alright. I'll head over there and make sure."

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" James demanded as Omega began walking away.

"Hm? Oh, my job here's done. I was just supposed to keep you from interfering with that delivery."

"Why the fuck did you attack me then?"

"I didn't. All I did was just knock you out of the air. I was going to tell you not to mess with the truck, but you just had to start a fight."

"And what the fuck is in that truck that Mercer _wants_ those Blackwatch fuckers to have? Another fucking bomb?"

"Nope. They don't have a name yet. Alex lets Gentek worry about what to call them. But they're worse than a bomb if what he's told me is even half true. Anyway, I've got something else to check out so we'll have to get back to this discussion later." Omega finished with a short salute and leapt out of the enclosed area and disappeared.

James attempted to follow the super soldier but lost him almost immediately. "How the fuck someone that big just...Fuck it. Maybe whatever Mercer sent to that base can 'tell' me something worth shit."

**Three Minutes Later/Morgan Street**

"What the fuck's going on in there?" James asked aloud, raising an eyebrow at the chaos before him.

Sirens were screaming. Emergency lights flashing. The Viral Detectors he could see didn't seem to be active at all. Smoke was billowing from several windows on the large building Blackwatch had commandeered. Men and women, soldiers and scientists, were running frantically both outside and within the building. Those within could be seen through the few unboarded windows on the structure.

James took a moment to silently consume a Blackwatch soldier before slipping into the base. The man hadn't had any more idea what was happening than James did.

Up close, Heller spotted three scientists working on one of the Viral Detectors. "I don't understand. The core programs are all fine! What's wrong with it?"

"Holy shit! It's not a programing problem Walters! Looks like someone threw a party in here." One of the three called the others' attention to the panel he had just opened.

"What the hell? How'd this happen?"

James tuned out the three and continued on towards the base. His progress was interrupted by a shout from somewhere behind him. "Everyone get down! Take cover!"

A whirring noise brought everyone's attention to the source of the shout: one of the automated guns on the wall had spun around and was maybe two seconds from firing into the 'courtyard.'

James ducked behind an APC. The vehicle's lights were randomly flickering on and off. The turret continued to fire wildly into the courtyard for several seconds before the engineer who had shouted the warning managed to shut it down.

As medical teams exited the building to check on those injured by the out of control gun, James entered the building. The intercom came on just seconds later. Instead of an announcement about the chaos or any orders for dealing with it though, a series of high pitched noises followed by random audio clips began playing on a loop.

The Marine found the first floor labs were mostly intact, except that the researchers were stumbling around chuckling for no apparent reason while their computers were receiving what appeared to be an endless string of spam mail. James found himself beginning to chuckle moments later and noticed that some kind of gas canister against the wall had been ruptured. He quickly left the area.

The second floor was restricted and his recent victim didn't have access, but the shouts and smoke coming out of the various rooms lining the hall suggested that there was nothing to see there anyway.

On the next floor James found the sealed labs and their corresponding observation areas in just as much chaos as the courtyard outside. Shouts about contaminated or destroyed or even missing viral samples were the most common sound he could pick out of the cacophony. Small fires in both the sealed rooms and the observation areas were putting a distracting amount of smoke into the air. That was when James noticed that it wasn't the fire alarms that were ringing throughout the building: it was an air raid siren.

Despite the smoke and fire, and the best efforts of those present, the sprinkler system wouldn't come on. The fire extinguishers seemed to have vanished or been tampered with to prevent them from working properly. Overall, it was miraculous the whole building hadn't gone up yet as far as Heller could see.

"Hey! I've got something over-augh!" The shout from an SD soldier was cut off with a gargled scream and followed by several random shots from the man's gun as he fell.

James joined several others as they rushed over to investigate. They found the man lying dead, his throat slashed open.

"What the fucking hell!? Shit! One of those infected freaks is in here!" One of the men shouted, which lead to others panicking and following suite.

The shapeshifting Marine ignored the panic and followed a short trail of blood droplets on the floor. The trail lead him to a small vent. "The hell? Brawler couldn't fit through there. We got miniature Infected now!?"

James knelt down and moved the grate away from the wall, noting that it had already been forced out of place before. The vent was fairly large, but it was still unlikely any human could fit inside it, yet alone any Infected he'd seen or heard of. He leaned forward and peered into the dark opening. A pair of glowing yellow eyes stared back at him.

Before he could react, the owner of the eyes vanished further into the ventilation system, sounding almost like it was laughing. James decided not to call attention to it and made his way out of the base, consuming a higher ranking soldier and a scientist along the way. Neither victim shed any light on what had happened.

**Rooftops/Yellow Zone**

"Fucking bastard." James punched the nearest wall, another hole joining the half dozen others he had already knocked in it. "Can't fucking believe I didn't catch that! Mercer made...whatever the fuck that thing back there was! The big guy said 'they' didn't have a name though, so there's more than one. Yeah. 'Stop the outbreak' my ass! What the fuck's Mercer up to!?"

**Undisclosed Location/Yellow Zone**

"Yeah. Messiah's out cold. I think. You shapeshifters are hard to read...except Heller. I'm gonna have to get him in a poker game sometime. Easiest fistful of cash I'd ever win." Omega closed the door and leaned against the wall, glancing at the new residents of the hideout. "These things are creeping me out. Is there anything they don't find chuckle worthy?"

"_Does it matter? They did their job and their final test was successful. Several potential disasters averted with those samples now destroyed and the files on them gone. I think that's worth you being a little uncomfortable."_

"If you say so." Omega glanced at the small creatures scurrying about among the sleeping Stalkers before leaving the room. "Anything else that can't wait a few hours?"

"_No. Just make sure Messiah stays there and rests tonight. Messiah has to stay healthy and safe or all of this will have been pointless."_

"Orders received. Mission Accepted, _Almighty Zeus_."

"_Omega-"_

"Sorry. Couldn't help it. I'll stay up a while longer and make sure your secret weapon stays asleep. Signing off." Omega waited for the okay and hung up. "Now let's see if there's anything in this fridge worth eating."

**Manhattan Island/Red Zone**

Alex slipped his phone back into his jacket and looked back out over the city below him. "_Not a weapon, Omega. Messiah is far from being a weapon...and I'll do whatever I have to to make sure it stays that way."_

The ultimate crime of humanity stepped off the edge of the building and dropped to the street more than fifty floors below. A Marine patrol stopped in their tracks and trained their guns on the cloud of dust raised by the impact.

As the particles settled and the men realized who they were aiming their weapons at, Alex debated over how to deal with the situation. In the end, he simply turned and walked away from the small squad of confused and shaken soldiers, not that they were complaining.

**Ellis Island/Blackwatch Command**

Gilda reread the new autopsy report a fourth time before looking back to the screen and the image of the doctor who had submitted the report. "And you've confirmed all of this?"

"Yes captain. We've done everything we could think of. The report is accurate, no matter how confusing it may be. How could Mercer even do this?"

"How he did it isn't important doctor. Why he would do it at all is what we should be worrying about."

"You're right. Of course captain. But think about what it could mean for medical treatments if we could do the same. Both bodies are perfect replicas right down to the smallest detail. If we could-"

"That's enough, doctor. Is this all you have to report?"

"No. There is one more thing. We've done a few basic tests on the..._remains_ of the Infected that have been dying in the field and labs without any visible cause. We haven't found a cause for certain, but there are traces of something very similar to pure DX-1118 C. We haven't been able to match it to anything on file and the samples we have managed to recover all appear to rapidly decay once the Infected host dies whether we extract it or not."

"A side-effect of whatever it is that causes the new Hunters to decay so quickly?"

"It may be related, but the substance doesn't appear to mutate host cells in any way that we can detect. It may simply be a new strain of the virus but we can't be sure unless we can study it more thoroughly over a span of time that isn't measured in mere minutes."

"Very well. I'll do what I can to increase surveillance in the labs and get any more cases to you as soon as possible. When you have time, please look over the Hellers again. We can't take any chances that something was missed. Have you had a chance to test the new Bloodtox mixture?"

"Yes. We had to slip it by Rooks' authorization process though. It shows a thirteen percent increase in effect on Walkers and Brawlers. We haven't been able to test it on anything else but it should be just as effective against Juggernauts. Hunters, of course, are a different story. What little we know about the new species suggests that they are far more resilient than their cousins."

"Understood. Carry on." Gilda sighed, crossing her arms. "Wait, doctor. Officially, I can't request any information on Koenig's work on Project Orion. Unofficially, what is your opinion of Koenig's progress and the project overall?"

"Unofficially? Koenig has made a great deal of progress that I am aware of. The mental instability the process caused during initial tests before Orion was shut down last year has been greatly reduced and the results sound promising if the intent is mass production of Orion Super Soldiers. The theoretical results would not be as impressive as what was achieved with the D-Code Project, or with you."

"And do you feel the resources Koenig has expended are worth the potential results?"

"No ma'am, I don't. If our objective was to create an army of supermen than I would say it is well worth what Anton has cost us, but a cure for this virus, a solution to the problems we had a hand in causing is what I believe our goal is and should be, captain."

"Good. Keep me updated on Koenig's progress and activities if you can. Dismissed." Gilda cut the video link and left the communications room.

"Scott."

"Yes, Captain Richter?" The Lieutenant responded as he fell in step behind Gilda.

"Preparation Progress?"

"Nothing's changed since you went to receive that report ma'am. We can only recheck equipment so many times. Until a new shipment arrives all we can do is maintain present vehicles and weapons."

"Is the next delivery still on schedule?"

"Yes ma'am. Crew for Scion has been selected and they are escorting the supply units. ETA is six hours. Kingpin's crew selection is almost complete and they will be escorting the new IFVs here tomorrow at the latest."

Gilda stepped outside, followed by Scott, and headed for the edge of the island facing Liberty State Park. The makeshift airfield across the water was just as lively as it had been for the last three days. The new gunships and transports were still being adjusted by their pilots as the the vehicles were new and the pilots, while all having seen one battlefield or another, had never flown these craft in actual combat.

"Tank squads?"

"Grinder, Crusher, and Masher are loaded and on their way. All tests check out and the remaining squads will be here in three days."

"Good. Have Diamondback, Viper and Cobra on standby to enter the Red Zone."

"Captain?"

"I doubt it will be necessary, but I'd rather be ready to react if anymore unexpected surprises crop up."

"Of course. I'll let them know, captain."

"Infantry equipment?"

"All standard ammunition has been replaced, all squads have been briefed on the change and understand the reasons. Also, your personal equipment has been modified as requested captain, and will be delivered with the convoy Scion is escorting."

"No problems to report? Related to preparations or not."

"Nothing particularly significant. A Suicide Division Squad that hasn't been sent into the quarantine zone was reported, four times now, as instigating fights between themselves and Ghost. I've requested that they be moved to checkpoint nine."

Gilda frowned and crossed her arms, looking away from the activity across the water. "The transfer is a good idea, but it'd be best they understand their situation before they're moved. Where are they right now?"

**Ellis Island/Temporary Barracks**

Gilda gritted her teeth and slammed her palms together, only waiting long enough for Kenneth to get away from her before doing so. The crash immediately silenced the men in the room and drew their undivided attention to the officer they had intentionally ignored moments before.

Three of the men who had been to close rolled on the floor groaning. The shockwave that had struck them might not have broken anything, but they weren't in good condition would stay this way for a while.

"Now that I have your attention: I have been informed that members of this unit have repeatedly antagonized Ghost, their lieutenant in particular, and in the most recent incident, one of you drew a knife."

"That fucking bitch was asking for it! Little girls should-" The speaker was cut off as a gloved hand closed around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Gilda asked, glaring at the helpless man. Pale grey eyes turned back to regard the rest of the room. "Now you all know the deal you were given: fight for us and you live a little longer. You all might have been given a stay of execution, but you are nothing more here than cannon fodder. In case you happened to forget, you are expendable and I will not tolerate you threatening my soldiers, and by extension, our mission here."

"B-b-bitch! I oughta-"

A sharp crack cut the man off.

"Do you all understand?" Gilda asked, dropping the dead cannon fodder to the ground. "You are ALL already dead on paper. Remember that. You are being relocated to checkpoint nine. I signed the order myself and I want you all off this island in ten minutes. Is that clear?"

The men glanced from the body at her feet back to Gilda's face before scrambling to collect their equipment and leave.

"A bit over-dramatic, don't you think ma'am?" Kenneth asked, rubbing his throat and looking up from the lifeless eyes of the body on the floor.

"I didn't plan that. But he gave me a convenient way to make my point." Gilda responded shortly, adjusting her gloves and checking her gauntlets. "Now, will you be joining the rest of us for dinner lieutenant, or do you and lieutenant Thompson have another 'strategy meeting' tonight?"

**Green Zone/Brooklyn**

Sabrina glared at her monitor. "Damn it! I should have seen this from the start. No matter what happens, I lose."

Anyone who knew her would understand the significance of those words and the trouble it meant for someone. Sabrina Galloway hated to lose.

* * *

**End Of Chapter Notes: Two New Infected Were Technically Introduced Here.**

Lair Heart: Not Shown In Chapter, Heller just talked about it. A Lair is actually a living organism on it's own, the Lair Heart is the center and source of the Lair. Something like a giant flower made of flesh with a mouth in the center. Extremely durable and only really vulnerable when it's mouth is open. Possesses the Tendril Mutation and a roar loud enough and powerful enough to function as an attack by displacing air and blowing things away. Secretes a poison cloud when in critical condition. Threat Level: Six. If left alone, one Lair could easily overrun either the Green or Yellow Zones.

Unamed In World At the Moment(Gremlins): Two foot tall humanoids. They have the Claw Mutation. Gremlins are fairly intelligent, since their intended purpose is sabotage and infiltration this makes sense. They can change the pigment of their scaly skin to blend into their surroundings. Despite their size, Gremlins are stronger than average full grown humans. Threat Level: Three.

Armored Hunter Details: They Posses three of Alex's Mutations. Claws: Obviously. Armor: It's in their name. And Muscle Mass: Not so obvious. This is an upgraded variation of Muscle Mass, it functions as a four times multiplier to physical attributes; speed, strength, striking power, etc. The Muscle Mass Mutation is always active for these Hunters. They are four times as strong as normal Hunters and thanks to their armor they only take half as much damage from any attacks that hit them. They are weighed down by their armor which cuts their speed in half, with Muscle Mass this makes them twice as fast as the Classic Flavor Hunters.

**Alex and Elizabeth: Alex has mother issues, he knows her whole life from birth to the moment he consumed her. Obviously he's more than a little sympathetic of her actions even if he didn't want her to succeed.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTES: Note that I do not own Prototype...Still.**

**Sorry this took so long to post, it would actually be one or two scenes longer if those scenes were cooperating but they aren't which is why this took so long.**

**Tactical Vision(Again): **I can see it as a game mechanic power(like the hunter pulse/viral sonar) but in the "real world" I think that would just translate to situational awareness, using the superbeings enhanced senses and accelerated perception to quickly take note of everything going on in an area and keep track of who's who, what's what, etc. So technically the enhanced beings in this story already have that.

**PC/MYM Connection: **Yes, the Alex in the Murder Your Maker One-shot and the one here in Project Crusade did develop along similar lines immediately following the events of the first game, though only to a point. Example: PC Alex does not posses the Sonic Boom(Weaponized Dolphin/Bat/other animal sonar/radar) power or the Gigas Form used by MYM Alex. PC Alex diverted attention and conscious mutation paths to other things, such as Armored Hunters, because he didn't plan to go to outright, open war with Blackwatch which is what lead MYM Alex to develop the Gigas Form.

**Upgrade/Passive Ability: **As it would be named as a Mutation in P2, Brace For Impact. Not a power or mutation actually, just another way to use Alex's/James'/Messiah's super strength and density shifting. This eliminates the knockback effect of some attacks; tank rounds, Hellfire missiles, Javelins, grenades, etc. It also removes the minor knockback caused when a Walker or human attacks an enhanced being. Alex has this ability at present. Even with this upgrade James could still be sent flying by sufficient force from Omega or other enhanced beings.

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

**Green Zone/Brooklyn/Blackwatch Field Headquarters.**

"Gremlins?" one occupant of the meeting room asked, raising an eyebrow.

The head researcher giving the briefing nodded. "Yes. We've decided, based on as of yet unconfirmed reports from the Red Zone and yesterday's incident in the Yellow Zone, that _Gremlin _would be the most appropriate designation for this new Infected."

"I don't really care what you call them doctor," Rooks said. "Just tell me you have a way to track them and eliminate them before they can do more damage."

"Unfortunately colonel, we have little information at present. The only things we know with any certainty is that they are smarter than almost any other Infected and that they are smaller than a human." The man glanced down at his notes before speaking again. "Based on marks found on bodies and objects we believe the Gremlins have interacted with, we think it's safe to assume they have claws similar to a Hunter or Brawler and are able to, like rats, chew through most ordinary materials."

"That's not exactly useful information," Rooks said, glaring at the scientist.

"Sir, with all due respect, we can't do any better without a body to study or a well documented prolonged encounter with the creatures. All we have to work with now is evidence they've left behind and guesswork." The man adjusted his coat and returned to his report. "It is highly probable that they are able to fit through extremely small spaces, such as vents, in order to get around undetected. In several of the incidents we believe involve these creatures in the Red Zone, the ventilation systems of buildings are reported to have been tampered with recently."

"None of this tells us how to kill them, doctor."

"I noticed that too, sir," the scientist said while scanning through his team's collected notes again. "Of the limited details we have at the moment, the thing my team and I find most distressing is the fact that these Infected seem to be able to sabotage viral detectors in ways that must take several minutes without setting the detector off in the process. It is unlikely, but we have to consider the possibility that Zeus and the Infected may have found a way to trick viral detectors."

"Impossible! If Zeus could move freely without being detected, then why is it still in the Red Zone? Or even this state?" another officer demanded.

"As I said, it is unlikely. Regardless, I would guess that Zeus would remain here even if he could leave. He made it quite clear that Manhattan is his chosen base of operations. Whatever his reason, or reasons, for returning to the island, I don't think Alex Mercer has any intention of leaving anytime soon."

"Alright, enough about the new freaks," Rooks said before addressing another officer. "What's the situation on the northern half of the island?"

"I can't say exactly, sir. We've lost contact with all bases and patrols north of Forty-Seventh Street. I was just informed of it myself before this meeting. Otherwise, I would have reported it sooner."

"Air patrols?"

"Hydras and Fliers make it difficult for Suicide Division pilots to stay airborne long enough to tell us anything. Even UAVs have been knocked out of the air before they can accomplish much. And it's been getting worse the last few days sir. The last reports we got before the remaining bases went dark indicate Brawler packs with up to twenty individuals, Juggernauts moving in groups of four on the surface regularly, and five confirmed sightings of Goliaths with all five happening in separate grid zones within minutes of each other."

"**Colonel Rooks, you may wish to see this,"** the monotone voice of Red Crown's head of communications cut into the meeting.

"What is it?"

"**Audio and video from a subway patrol that was lost less than ten minutes ago. Only one survivor. Their base commander forwarded the footage to me and I thought you should be made aware of it as soon as possible."**

"Alright, let's see it."

"They probably just ran into a Brawler or something and panicked. I'd be on edge down there so it's not like we can expect much from those-" the man who said that was cut off by the beginning of the video. Screams and gunfire came through the speakers loud and clear, as did the deafening roar that only Rooks, Riley, and the head researcher recognized.

The nightvision of the camera painted the enormous creature an eerie green, but didn't hide the blazing red glow of the monster's four gigantic eyes. The camera being a part of the man's mask ensured that those watching the video saw everything he had seen. To the former inmate's credit, he had managed to only panic slightly, which kept the image relatively clear.

Bullets ricocheted off the creature's leathery underside and its armored limbs. Grenades detonated against the crustacean-like shell on its back. The men had fired everything they had while backing down the tunnel and nothing seemed to have hurt the beast. Two men were crushed under its spider-like legs while three others were reduced to sludge by some unknown fluid the giant, multi-legged horror spewed onto them as they retreated.

"Stop the video," Rooks ordered sharply. The scene froze. "Where were those men stationed?"

"**RZ Base Four-Zero, sir. They entered the subway on West Thirty-Fourth Street."**

"Of course. And Mercer didn't want them poking around so close to Penn Station."

"I guess that confirms our theories about Arachne's territory at least. Fourth confirmed encounter, and she's still around Pennsylvania Station," the scientist said.

"Colonel, I don't understand. If Mercer doesn't want anyone near the hive, then why hasn't he attacked Four-Zero? It's right across the street. Literally less than two-hundred feet away," one of Riley's fellow lieutenants spoke up.

"Near as we can tell, the hive is impregnable from above ground and we've never seen anything go in or come out. It's almost certain that there's at least one opening below ground, and Arachne's the watchdog from the looks of it."

"Arachne? That thing in the video already has a codename?"

"We've been aware of her since the second week of the outbreak, though it's possible she was created before that," the scientist interjected. "She appears to be one of a kind: unique among the Infected. There are more than a dozen incidents believed to be related to Arachne, but as of now, we only have four confirmed encounters with her all around Penn Station."

"I doubt we're lucky enough for Mercer to have only made one of the damned things. In the second encounter reported with Arachne, before they were wiped out, the squad fired seven Javelins and all of them were confirmed hits. Bitch didn't even flinch," Rooks said out, not looking away from the four glowing red points on the screen.

One of the lieutenants leaned towards the scientist. "Hey, how do you know this thing's a girl?"

"We don't, actually. After the codename was given, my team and others just started referring to her as female and it stuck."

"Its gender isn't important!" Rooks snapped, looking up from his screen. "We can't even be sure anything that's been done has hurt it and there could be more of them, especially on the northern half of the island. Doctor, has Archer reported any further progress on the cure?"

"No sir, not yet. Doctor Archer and her team are very good in their field though,sir. She's almost as proficient as Alex-er-Zeus, was, sir. I'll ask her about her progress after the meeting, sir."

* * *

**Jersey City/Yellow Zone/Former Ninth Street Lair**

_This soil is loose. A Hydra was born here._ The red haired woman rose from a crouched position and headed for the exit, stepping over the bodies of dead Suicide Division troops without a second thought. Alex hadn't really noticed them much when they were alive though, so dead, they were even less of a concern.

Elizabeth Greene jumped out of the large hole in the ground and quickly left the area. Ten minutes later, another patrol found the dead men and pointlessly raised an alarm. By that time, Alex had long since returned to Manhattan.

Immediately after leaving the park, and making sure no one was paying any attention to 'her,' Alex made his way to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the Yellow Zone. Green irises shifted to a dark orange color as Alex scanned the area from his vantage point until he found what he was looking for.

"Right there. Didn't get very far," Alex crossed his arms and closed his eyes. _It moved north. To have burrowed away, it must have hatched at least four hours before James got there, meaning at most, two hours before the Lair broke the surface and was quarantined. There might be twenty hours until its fully mature, but I can't wait until then._

Pitch black eyes opened and several Hunters in Manhattan received their orders and headed immediately for Broome Street. Another set of orders was given and Alex's eyes, Elizabeth's eyes, returned to their normal shade of green.

Alex leapt east from the rooftop and splashed into the river, arousing the curiosity of some but not alerting any Marines, or Blackwatch meat shields, to his presence and departure.

* * *

**Yellow Zone/Rooftops/Early Morning**

James stepped out onto the roof, having spent the night inside one of the overcrowded buildings, and stretched. It was beginning to rain. The sky had been threatening that for the last three days. Without any actual destination in mind, James jumped from the roof and began a sort of morning jog across the Yellow Zone.

An explosion caught his attention as he headed north, a plume of black smoke rising into the sky marking its point of origin. His enhanced hearing began to pick out gunfire and smaller explosions seconds later.

Returning to Ninth Street Park and to the roof of the building that shared the block with it, James could see a battle occurring within the walled off area around the openings to the Holland Tunnels. The red haze of Bloodtox seemed to be rapidly dissipating and through the lingering mist, James saw a large red tentacle rising from the ground and attacking the military position.

The shapeshifting soldier leapt from the rooftop and glided toward the Infected monster and the compromised base, morphing into a Blackwatch soldier before he was noticed and landing out of sight, sneaking into the battle to better understand what was happening.

"You heard me! We've got a fucking Hydra over here tearing the base apart! Get a Strike Team over here now!" a Lieutenant, not currently engaging the threat, shouted into his radio. "What? RZ Two-Zero? MERCER! Fucking-get a fucking Strike over here or that asshole's gonna annex Jersey! If Two-Zero hasn't called reinforcements already, then you better fucking send some to them NOW!"

James discreetly consumed the man after he shut off his radio, finding that the base in Manhattan that was meant to guard the other sides of the tunnels that the base he was standing in defended was also under attack. Brawlers and Hunters had been sighted, and Alex was there as well.

"Yeah, shoulda fucking known," James said, retrieving a rocket launcher and rushing to engage the Hydra.

The first rocket James fired missed completely and drew the eyeless beast's attention to him. It threw an APC, proving to have better aim than one might expect given its lack of ocular organs. James rolled with the impact and managed to only fracture a few bones, those healing seconds later.

"Alright fucker, you wanna play catch? Fine!" James snarled, taking aim again. "Catch!"

The second rocket hit home but merely appeared to anger the giant, worm-like Infected. The monstrous tentacle opened its mouth, a mass of tendrils exploding out and latching onto everything behind James before pulling the rubble and debris back toward the Hydra.

"Missed freak!" The shout from Heller was proven inaccurate when the various bits and pieces of concrete and metal collided with his back as it, and now he, were drawn back to the burrowing monster.

James managed to roll free of the collection of rubble before the Hydra released its catch and let the entire mess simply part around it like a stream around a boulder. The creature roared and lunged forward, this time only five tendrils extending from its mouth, all ending in sharp barbs and all aimed at the short tempered human.

Leaping away from the attack, blowing his cover in the process, James dropped his disguise and shifted his arms to claws. The rocket launcher discarded for lack of ammunition, the anger prone man hefted a large chunk of concrete, likely broken from the ground when the Hydra burrowed to the surface, and hurled it at the monster before sprinting forward.

The fragment of the parking-lot hit the Hydra and did less harm than the rocket that had struck it previously and James' attempted direct assault was prevented when he was blown off his feet by a Gunship's Hellfire missile, similar projectiles striking the Hydra.

"Fuck! Now what?" James snarled as he recovered from the blast. "Assholes! I'm trying to kill the fucking thing you blind fucking morons!"

The Strike Team continued to fire indiscriminately on both James and the Hydra while the former did his best to attack the monster while avoiding the missiles and bullets from the pair of Gunships. This didn't last, of course, for the Hydra was quick to swat the Gunships out of the sky after it realized Heller wasn't a threat as long as he was also their target.

With both aircraft crashing to the ground in flames, the Hydra sunk back into the ground, only to reemerge right outside the security gate Blackwatch had set up to block access to the southern tunnel. The giant tentacle began slamming it's body against the metal gate and repeatedly attempted to pierce it with the five spear-like tendrils it had used against James previously.

James nearly leapt at the monster again, but thought better of it and sought out a weapon first, shifting his arms back to normal. The rocket launcher he found seconds later was immediately discarded. Not only did he lack any ammunition for the weapon beyond what it already contained, but he spotted something far more likely to be effective against the giant worm and, really, the Gunship wouldn't miss it anymore.

"Hope this works," James muttered to himself as he tried to trigger the weapon. The anti-tank missile roared from the launcher and struck the Hydra in the back of what passed for its head.

The giant worm roared, spinning around one-hundred and eighty degrees almost instantly and again launched the five piercing tendrils at James. The man was already on the move again, however, and had leapt up and away, landing on the street adjacent with the road that lead into the tunnel, putting him on the same elevation as the Hydra's 'head'.

"Suck on this!" James roared as another missile flew out to impact the already injured monster.

As the Hydra reared back, roaring in pain and possibly rage, James attempted to fire again only to discover that the missile pod was expended.

"Well, that's just fucking great," James grumbled, tossing the weapon aside.

The Hydra slammed its body down, attempting to crush James with its own head. The soldier rolled aside and was sent tumbling across the ground by the force of the impact.

A third Gunship arrived just then and opened fire on the Hydra. James took the time the unexpected distraction provided to retrieve the rocket launcher he had ignored previously and fired its single rocket at the preoccupied Hydra. As the Javelin found its mark, James noticed that the newly arrived Gunship seemed to have a far better pilot than those he had previously seen Blackwatch deploy. Whoever it was, avoided thrown debris at close range and even shot it out of the air, which was clearly beyond the skill of Suicide Division pilots.

The Hydra switched its focus after the Javelin detonated and again launched its barbed tendrils at James. Before he could even think of dodging the attack, the Gunship flew between him and the Hydra, intercepting the tendrils before turning and firing one last missile at the Infected before crashing to the ground. The barbed tendrils had effectively destroyed the vehicles flight systems when they nearly pierced through it.

The last shot from the Gunship seemed to stun the Hydra, and James took the opportunity to make use of his claws, ripping through the creature's flesh and finally consuming it. Much like his previous experience with the first Brawler he consumed, James felt as if his arms were being put through a blender before they were instinctively redesigned to accommodate the new mutation.

* * *

**Manhattan Island/Red Zone/Base Two-Zero**

Alex stood amidst the rubble and charred bodies of those unfortunate enough to have been present during the attack. A final set of roars south of his position, followed by the arrival of two Leader Hunters, confirmed that the attack on the other tunnel had failed.

Cold blue eyes shifted to black briefly before returning to normal.

_The Hydra's dead and both gates are intact._ Alex turned and looked at the broken remains of one of the security gates. "It'll have to be good enough, I guess."

A silent order sent the Leaders and their packs away as a trio of Gunships escorting an equal number of transport helicopters approached. Alex shifted and began searching for survivors, finding the barely conscious base commander under an overturned APC, a well placed chunk of concrete was all that saved the man from being crushed by the armored vehicle.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"What do you think?" the man snapped. "God, think I can taste my kidneys. Mercer?"

"Just left sir, I...I'm sorry sir, I had a shot but..."

"Forget it. After what that monster just did, anyone would have choked." As the commander unknowingly waved off a lie from Alex, the transports landed and thirty Suicide Division infantry disembarked. "Wonderful. Now the cannon fodder arrives," The commander said before shouting to the approaching men. "Okay, you men guard that fucking hole over there with your lives! You hear me?"

The thirty soldiers hesitantly saluted and rushed toward the open tunnel entrance. While they moved to secure the broken gate, the trio of medics that had also been brought by the transports unloaded their equipment and rushed over to the commander and the 'soldier' helping him walk.

"Spread out and find any other survivors. If there are any, you better make sure they stay alive."

As the other two medics carried out their orders and the third began checking the commander over, he turned to Alex. "Find a fucking working radio and let Red Crown know we need the whole fucking base replaced. Get as many men here as you can. I don't care if they're Marines or even Suicide Division! We're fucked if the Infected get through that tunnel and thirty of those assholes won't stop even one Brawler much less Zeus if he comes back."

"Yes sir," Alex said, automatically, before quickly walking away to carry out the order. Finding a radio that had not been in the radius affected by the Crimson Shockwave was easy enough. "Red Crown, report from RZ Two-Zero. Zeus has left the area and there are no active Infected that I can see. Viral Detectors and Bloodtox Sprayers are down. High casualties: throw a rock, you hit a corpse. No idea how many survivors there are. Medics are looking right now."

"**The northern security gate?"**

"Scrapped. Juggernauts hit it hard," Alex said, letting out a tired sigh. "The whole base is slagged, actually. We're gonna need replacements for pretty much everything. How long before we can get that gate sealed?"

"**We won't know until an engineer takes a look at it. Status of the second gate?"**

"Can't exactly see it from here, command. Too much smoke and that building's still standing. I'd guess it's still standing, at least. Most of the attack was aimed at the northern gate," Alex said, turning south toward the second tunnel entrance. _Twenty Brawlers, eight Juggernauts and two Hydra. One murder of Fliers and every Evolved Walker within a mile of here._

The shapeshifting bio-weapon glanced at a particularly large corpse lying against a surprisingly sturdy building.

_And a Goliath._

"**Two-Zero, Zeus was present, correct?"**

"Yes."

"**Do you have any idea why he would abandon the attack?"**

"No fucking clue, command. He didn't even get involved at first; just stood up on the roofs and watched. Near the end he came down and, well, did whatever the fuck Mother did last year in Times Square. Red flash and everything fucking dies. Don't know how anyone survived."

"**Understood. Standby for reinforcements and construction crews."** The line went dead.

Alex clipped the radio to his 'uniform' and walked calmly over to the Goliath's corpse. After glancing around to ensure he wasn't being watched, the abomination extended two feeder tendrils from his back and pierced the flesh of the massive body. Two seconds later, he retracted the tendrils and retrieved a fallen rifle before going to report his conversation with Red Crown to the now bandaged commander.

* * *

**Yellow Zone/Hudson River Waterfront Walkway (HRWW)**

Omega fell into step beside the blonde woman on the sidewalk before speaking. "That was a little pointless, don't you think? Heller could have handled it eventually."

"Maybe he could, but I didn't want to risk either gate," Messiah said, rubbing her neck and shoulders.

"That crash didn't look that bad."

"It wasn't. I'm fine. Just a bit, I don't know, shocked? I've never been in any kind of crash. It was a bit jarring. It doesn't hurt now, but I still feel it; it's like my bones are shaking."

"I'd think you would remember things like that. Alex crashed more than one of those things last year."

"He only taught me how to fly. He left out the crashing," Messiah said, turning to stare out across the river. "Omega, do you think I'd be able to work faster if I was back on Manhattan?"

"This again? Really?"

"Because of the outbreak there's practically a limitless number of ways I could test the new strains. With what I've figured out already, I could probably do single complete mutations in just a few days. I could be finished by next month if I was over there!" Messiah nearly shouted, turning to face the taller superbeing.

"You're here because Alex doesn't want anyone to know you exist. Not yet, anyway."

"And then he leaves Heller over here? What's the point of hiding me here and then putting up an exploding, neon sign like James?"

"Exactly that. If everyone's focused on Heller, you stay off the radar. Blackwatch still thinks the Infected you've been injecting are dying because of something Alex did, and they're blaming everything else on James or the Gremlins."

"They have a name already?"

"Gentek works fast. Gotta give 'em that."

"Off topic, don't distract me."

Omega smirked. "You're important. Without you, everything falls apart and you're not ready to deal with the Red Zone."

"I'm almost as strong as Zeus was last year. I should be over there."

"You've never been in a real fight, and you know as well as I do that you're more limited than he is. Besides, Alex doesn't want James in the Red Zone now either. You're both better off right where you are."

"But you get to run all over the place just fine. How's that fair?"

"If someone told you life was fair, they were lying and you should knock their teeth out," Omega said, smirking again despite his mask.

"Funny," Messiah groaned before perking up. "Ah. Look at me, standing around complaining while there's science to do. I'd better get back to work. See you later."

Before Omega could respond, the young woman launched herself into the air, landing on the roof of a building for only a fraction of a second before changing direction and disappearing from sight with the next jump.

Omega flicked his phantom connection to the Hive into an active state and watched the surprisingly stealthy giant cats follow the impossibly agile humanoid.

* * *

**Yellow Zone/Random Alley**

James looked up at the bits and pieces of Suicide Division troops still suspended in the air by the black, gooey tendrils stretched between the buildings. He couldn't, and didn't want to, stop the cruel smirk that spread across his face.

"Hang around awhile guys," James chuckled to himself, morphing his arms back to normal. As James started walking out of the alley, a Blackwatch communicator he had 'borrowed' went off.

"**Viper One-Two, do you copy?"**

Quickly shifting to the form his stolen memories told him was appropriate, James retrieved the device and said, "Here command."

"**After the incidents yesterday, and the attacks on both sides of the Holland Tunnel, one of Gentek's head researchers, Doctor Ted Bellamy, has requested that he and his team be transferred to the Green Zone,"** Rooks said, nearly snarling. He obviously wasn't happy. "**Command authorized the transfer. You and your squad are to escort Bellamy and his team to YZ One-Zero and bring them to GZ Two-One by helicopter. The tunnels are currently not an option and command doesn't want anymore V. in the Red Zone than there already are anyway."**

"Rodger. I'll round up the rest of the squad and head over."

"**Transmitting coordinates."**

James glanced at the mini-map on the devices screen, memorizing which base he would find the scientists at. "Anything else sir?"

"**Yeah. If you see Heller, you do everything you can to put that bastard down. He's caused enough problems already and he's liable to investigate the convoy. When he shows, you do whatever it takes to kill him. I don't care if you have to level a whole fucking block."** Rooks cut the connection.

"Hmph. Guess he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe this Bellamy asshole knows something about Mercer."

James leapt to the roofs and headed for Jersey Avenue, his ultimate destination being the Jersey City Medical Center on Grand Street.

* * *

**Yellow Zone/Colgate Center Park**

"Thanks," a man with his left arm in a cast said quickly, before marching sedately back towards his family's tent, food in hand.

"Believe me, everyone here's grateful, but you shouldn't keep doing this. You're going to get yourself in trouble, Magda," one of the refugees from Manhattan, a woman in her thirties, said from Magda's left.

"Everyone keeps telling me that, but I haven't gotten in trouble yet. All of you need help, and thanks to Blackwatch, you aren't going to get it officially. If it's all I can do, I'd better keep doing it," Magda said, a smile on her face.

With the last of her suspiciously obtained supplies handed out to those who needed them, Magda stuffed her empty bags into the largest sack and left the camp. Before even crossing Essex Street, she noticed a man stumbling down the sidewalk toward the camp.

"Hey, are you alright?" Magda said, jogging toward him. "What's-"

The man fell to his knees coughing, blood splattering the ground. Magda inhaled sharply, retrieving the first aid kit she was carrying as she finished closing the distance between herself and the man on his knees.

"What happened? Where does it-" Magda was cut off with a short scream as the man lunged forward, missing her by mere inches as she backpedaled away from him. "Oh no," she whispered, as the newly mutated Walker growled at her.

Several people in the camp heard her and came running while others ran the opposite direction. She wouldn't blame them if she'd noticed.

"Magda, what's wrong?" the woman who had been trying to convince her to worry more about herself called out, not taking immediate notice of the Walker.

As the Infected lunged forward again, Magda blindly grabbed a bottle from her first aid kit and hurled it at the shambling Walker. The bottle of rubbing alcohol shattered against the Walker's face, drenching its head in the flammable liquid. In the same move used to throw the bottle, Magda reached into her jacket and retrieved her flare gun.

The Walker's head and shoulders burst into flame as the flare struck, followed by screams from the humans present when they realized what was happening. Magda threw the now empty bags she was carrying at the burning Walker, knocking it off its feet and igniting the bundles of fabric as well.

"Clear the camp!" Magda shouted, turning to those who hadn't already run. "If Blackwatch finds out-"

A low buzzing noise drew the redhead's attention to a slowly approaching UAV, its lights blinking yellow as it homed in on the dying, perhaps already dead, Walker.

"Run! Get everyone out of the area!" At the shout, those who had been frozen out of shock or fear turned and bolted to collect their family or friends. Magda rushed back to the camp as well, picking up two children and carrying them after their mother who had her hands full with her youngest.

* * *

Five minutes later, Magda sat on a rooftop on the north side of Morris Street, staring at the barricades Blackwatch was setting up as the area filled with a red haze. It was fairly easy to guess what was happening: the buildings by the park had been sealed and men and women in hazmat gear were entering the building even as the walls went up to contain any Walkers that may come out. Obviously such minor obstacles wouldn't stop Brawlers or Juggernauts.

A soft thud announced Omega's arrival. Magda didn't even turn around when she greeted him.

"You're okay, right?" The large man knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. Everyone got away before any soldiers showed up and I don't think they have orders to look for people who were around earlier."

"Not what I asked."

"It's a Lair, isn't it?"

"Looks like it. They probably put the seed in the basement. Leave it alone long enough and that building will be a Hive in no time."

"And Blackwatch isn't interested in stopping it," Magda said, nearly snarling.

"Not Blackwatch. Rooks. He wants Gentek to study it, and I know what you're going to say and I agree. So does just about everyone in Gentek. _Couldn't they just study it in the Red Zone?"_ Omega stood up and crossed his arms. "Honestly, I think Rooks and his thugs are just making things worse. Alex said they set that little group up to slow things down if there was another outbreak, but with Rooks in charge, they're just causing more problems."

"Do you think James could kill it?"

"He killed the last one, so probably. You're not planning on shooting him in the head again, are you?"

"I don't know his phone number! What was I supposed to do? Start yelling and hope he'd hear me?"

"I think this one's not much younger than the one from the other day," Omega said, ignoring the girl's outburst and looking at the building that hid a Lair in its basement. "So we might have another Hydra slithering around soon. Maybe more than one. I'm gonna-"

A distant explosion caught the super soldier's attention, cutting off whatever he had been saying. Omega turned west and pushed a button on his goggles. "Well, crap."

"What?"

"Near as I can tell, Heller started another firefight in the street, over by the medical center. A convoy's supposed to be taking a Gentek team out of there. Three guesses why Jimmy decided to pay them a visit," Omega groaned, defaulting his goggles to normal magnification. "Gotta go make sure he doesn't decide to start using people as projectiles. You go back to the apartment and stay out of trouble."

"But-" Omega leapt away, effectively ending the conversation.

"Now what do I do?" Magda asked the empty air and got the usual response from doing such a thing. With one final glance at the site of the hidden Lair, Magda left the rooftop and headed 'home'.

* * *

**Again, sorry this took so long, don't hate me.**

**Heller has Tendrils now. He will gain the Barbed Tendrils that the Hydra used eventually.  
**

**Possible Character Note: I really want to turn Whipfist Evolved Girl into a character. The Evolved Heller got the Whipfist from. She had a unique design (No other model in the game is even remotely similar to her) and was one of only two Evolved to use the Whipfist and specifically the dual Whipfist fighting style that she had that looked weird to me when a male Evolved used it later. If anyone has the time and inclination to do so, I wouldn't mind hearing ideas on making her more than a convenient power-up delivery system for Heller.** Checked, while it seems my memory was partly faulty and she only uses one Whipfist (or I just keep not seeing her use the left one) she does indeed have two, both her arms are identical so I would assume they are both supposed to be Whipfist. Even if anyone could give me a good character idea for her it is unlikely I would be able to really use it in the planned plot, so no worries if you have no ideas either.

**Arachne:** An Infected that will be appearing properly much later on. She's basically the gate guard for The Core which is Madison Square Garden, the arena building and the taller structure next to it that it is directly attached to. Arachne is in the same, or at least close to the same, weight class as a Goliath and is one of two Giant Class Infected that will definitely be showing up. Spider-like with acidic spit, she has several other abilities that will come up eventually.


End file.
